I whisper beautiful secrets into The drainpipes at night For the old folks while they're sleeping... Something to help them with their dreams. I climb the wall to the cemetery, Lay down on the grave of my father... I hear him asking me for forgiveness, So I close my eyes in prayer.
And then a rainy-rainy-rain falls down... A cool rainy-rain upon my head. It makes the river overflow it's banks, And wash my cares away to Sleepy-town.
I pour whiskey in the honeycomb, It makes the bees all turn to angels. I watch 'em fly off into heaven... Disappear where I can't follow. And I would write Jesus a letter, But I hear that he don't speak English... So instead I'll just throw these cobblestones Until I ring that old church bell.
Until the rainy-rainy-rain fall down... Cool rainy-rain upon my head. It makes the river overflow it's banks, And wash my cares away to Sleepy-town.
In Sleepy-town, you let the wild wind blow away your name. In Sleepy town, you let the healing rain just wash your pain away.
I see a light on in the station, Yeah someone is waiting for a train. And I envy them their leaving As I turn to head back home again. For soon the morning sun will rise And this little town will open up its eyes.. And return from the land where I've never been From a Sleepy-town...that's free...
From all that rainy-rainy-rain fall down. The cool rainy-rain upon my head Make the river overflow it's banks And wash my cares away to Sleepy-town...
Your world is in flames there ain't even a name For the feelings you feel as you watch it all burn. There's a girl in the distance, she's calling your name, But the name that she's calling is not your name, she calls:
THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! but he's plowing the field... THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! But he's plowing the field...
And you can't walk on that water, I know 'cause I tried. It's our spider web-thinking, it's just too heavy with holes. And our thoughts they are made up of red Georgia clay, we think we know everything, but man we don't know:
THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! but he's plowing the field... THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! but he's plowing the field... here come THE WORD-MULE!
My friends, look out for hustlers for preachers for sheisters, them silver-tongued saints who pretend to do good, 'cause they're geeks biting chicken-heads off with their witty rejoinders they ain't nothing but greasy fast food for:
THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! but he's plowing the field... THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! THE WORD-MULE! but he's plowing the field...
Upon awakening I find myself Lying in some woods, And for the longest time I've sat here, Just trying to remember why I feel like I am floating, Why blood is running down my shirt Then my memory returns to me As the pain comes flooding; Into my heart, My baby she stabbed me in my heart. Left me here to die, My baby she stabbed me in my heart And I know why...
I hear the sound of distant footsteps, And I know that she is running From that past which will pursue her Until the day that she dies. 'Cause I know about her family, And their crimes upon her body... So I guess it wasn't me at all That she was trying to kill... When she drove that knife Into my heart My baby she stabbed me in my heart Left me here to die My baby she stabbed me in my heart Really came as no surprise.
Over the hill there is a highway, Now I hear a truck is stopping... She's flagged somebody down And asked 'em for a ride. And I would try to follow her, But I don't seem to be able To lift this heavy body anymore, As the light fails, And the darkness falls Into my heart My baby she stabbed me in my heart Left me here to die My baby she stabbed me in my heart So now I'll just, I'll just close my eyes Close my eyes as the darkness falls Into my heart My baby she stabbed me in my heart Into my heart I'm falling, I'm falling, I'm falling...
I cannot be superman no more... I cannot walk upon the high wire in my mind. And now that I understand the extent of my mortal coil, Suddenly and somehow I have lost all my desire... To shine, to shine like the sun... To shine, to shine like the sun... On a sunny day in Angel-Land.
And I guess sometimes you find that the river just runs dry... And you've got to get up out of the boat and walk. And I suppose you might try to find another river, But sometimes, sometimes it's just too hard.. To hard to shine, to shine like the sun... To shine, to shine like the sun... On a sunny day, in Angel-Land.
Mostly now these days I'm dreaming normal dreams... Little things like who I spoke to, or what I did today. I have not written a speech for God to say in years. 'Scuse me if I leave that undertaking up to those who say... Who say the want to shine, to shine like the sun... To shine, a shine like the sun.. On a sunny day, in Angel-Land.. Sweet Angel-land
Sometimes you gotta take off your shoes Sit right down in the middle of the road Kick off the dust and deal with the news That you are blind
These dreams are familiar These are places we've been before Somewhere in the wild blue yonder Lies a path where blindly we go
And I ain't counting on nobody Ain't counting on my fingers and toes Ain't counting on no superstition 'Cause my proposition is we are blind
These dreams are familiar These are places we've been before Somewhere in the wild blue yonder Lies a path where blindly we go
And on the day that I play my last hand As I set out blindly for some promised land One thing I know, I'll hope it's dreams not eyes Take a soul where it wants to go
These dreams are familiar These are places we've been before Somewhere in the wild blue yonder Lies a path where blindly we go Blindly we go, blindly we go
When too much beauty numbs the mind When what you see ain't what you get When digging deeper what you find Is skeletons best left behind
We go crash into the sun Ain't enough bullets in this here gun We got cash, now who's talking trash? Jumping up and down on the bus downtown
We are brash, we all fall down We take out our brains and shake 'em all around It's a gas, a real kick in the pants Everywhere we go we bring the house down shouting 'Hoo, hoo, who do you know and do you blow minds?'
And when the monkey see what the monkey do Some fool's checking out the chump in you They got magic hoops for jumping through You let some space case say false is true
We go crash into the sun Ain't enough bullets in this here gun We got cash, now who's talking trash? Jumping up and down on the bus downtown
We are brash, we all fall down We take out our brains and shake 'em all around It's a gas, a real kick in the pants Everywhere we go we bring the house down shouting 'Hoo, hoo, who do you know and do you blow minds?' Do you blow minds?"
The further you go the deeper it gets With so much to remember, it's fun to forget Surrender your mind to life's sweet blindfold Hey, don't think twice just do as you're told
Go on and crash into the sun Ain't enough bullets in this here gun We got cash, now who's talking trash? Jumping up and down and the bus downtown
We are brash, we all fall down We take out our brains and shake 'em all around It's a gas, a real kick in the pants Everywhere we go we bring the house down
We go crash into the sun Ain't enough bullets in this here gun We got cash, now who's talking trash? Jumping up and down on the bus downtown
We are brash, we all fall down We take out our brains and shake 'em all around It's a gas, a real kick in the pants Everywhere we go we bring the house down shouting 'Hoo, who do you know, hoo, who do you know?' Hoo, who do you know?"
And do you, and do you, and do you, and do you, and do you And do you, and do you, do you blow minds? Just ask him, do you blow minds? You gotta blow minds, can you blow minds? You're wasting my time
Out in the junkyard in the pines They're working over time Hacking back them vines That are eating up their minds Fruit of the vine, that old fruit of the vine
We're doing 30 in a 45 Disregarding highway signs You learn to take your time Down south in the summertime Fruit of the vine, that old fruit of the vine
It ain't no crime in being alive It ain't no sin, we're just trying to get by Lead our lives one day at a time Hand to mouth, low down in the dirty old south Living on the fruit of the vine
Now some say love come COD Others turn to G O D Cash it in on PCP, IOUs and IEDs Fruit of the vine, that old fruit of the vine
Scraps of paper in a tree Photographs and memories Train wrecks of tangled dreams Lives coming apart at the seams Fruit of the vine, that old fruit of the vine
It ain't no crime in being alive It ain't no sin, we're just trying to get by Lead our lives one day at a time Hand to mouth, low down in the dirty old south Just living on the fruit of the vine
It ain't no crime in being alive It ain't no sin, we're just trying to get by Lead our lives one day at a time Hand to mouth, low down in the dirty old south Living on the fruit of the vine
Now that old vine, it never sleeps And it strangles as it creeps Out in the junkyard in the pines Fall asleep and you will die Fruit of the vine, that old fruit of the vine
You think you're gonna get your little piece of the sky Up in the sweet by and by? As for me I believe I'll try to get mine before I die Fruit of the vine, that old fruit of the vine
'Cause it ain't no crime in being alive It ain't no sin, we're just trying to get by Lead our lives one day at a time Hand to mouth, low down in the dirty old south Living on the fruit of the vine, living on the fruit of the vine Living on the fruit of the vine, living on the fruit of the vine
That's how they found him He was howling at the moon He's sitting right there on the railway tracks And the train was coming
There was a string of wild flowers Draped around his collar And when he saw the men were coming for him Well, he began to holler
He cried, "Take me away, take me away" But the men could not be sure If he was talking to them or talking to the oncoming train
Now his mama she watched religion on the TV Each day from dawn to dusk And at night when she'd hear him howling Well, she'd cried to Jesus
For years she begged the Sweet Redeemer To heal her crazy son Until finally she just gave up on miracles And called the men to come
She told them, "Take him away, take my son away 'Cause after 20 long years I've simply run out prayers to pray"
But as he stood to fight the men From the other side of the railway bed He thought he heard the calling voice Of an old friend he thought long dead
But when he turned away from the men He found it was a stranger calling him And as if he knew that man He smiled and raised his hand
As he stepped into the golden sun Of the headlight of the oncoming train And as he did he locked eyes with that stranger He cried out one last time He cried, "Take me away, please, take me away"
And to this day in this little town Not a soul knows what he was trying to say All them years of shouting take me away No, no one knows what he was trying to say Or who that stranger was
I'll never fit in so why should I try? How I'm I ever gonna pass for a normal guy? I can't wear no suit and tie, gotta let my freak flag fly If I walk the straight and narrow one more day I think I'll die
Because I wanna live in a turquoise house With a turquoise garden and a turquoise yard Drive around town in a turquoise car Find a turquoise girl with a turquoise heart
Now faith is a riddle and love is a dream Things are seldom what they seem If you say your prayers at night and comb your hair just right You might not feel like you're in hell but then again you might
Me, I wanna live in a turquoise house With a turquoise garden and a turquoise yard Drive around town in a turquoise car Find a turquoise girl with a turquoise heart
I want turquoise carpets and turquoise shoes Turquoise papers with all the turquoise news Turquoise only, not teal or aquamarine I've seen my future and it's a shade of blueish green
Now I can't turn back, there ain't no way (He's going turquoise today) When word gets out there'll be hell to pay (He's going turquoise today)
This life's not for the faint But you can't be what you ain't I know I'll never truly be myself Till I get me that turquoise paint
Because I wanna live in a turquoise house With a turquoise garden and a turquoise yard Drive around town in a turquoise car Find a turquoise girl with a turquoise heart
I wanna live in a turquoise house With a turquoise garden and a turquoise yard Drive around town in a turquoise car Find a turquoise girl with a turquoise heart
A turquoise girl with a turquoise heart A turquoise girl in a turquoise dress And a skirt and a shirt That's covering up her turquoise heart
It's the twilight hour As the sun goes down I see a flatbed Ford with a scrapyard load Rattle off through town
The railroad crossing lights flash on There ain't no train in sight A crescent moon will soon ascend As day gives way to night
And I feel home And I think how far away I got from home Back in the bad old days But I'm done turning diamonds to coal
Now just before dinner time This old drunk comes knocking on my door Say he's looking for some girl who lived here Twenty-seven years ago
The radio in the kitchen is playing 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone' And as he strolls away into the night And the streetlights flicker on
I get to thinking about home And how sometimes there come a day When I try to get back home But all you can do is run away But I'm done turning diamonds to coal
In love we find out who we are In sorrow we abide Our strength's revealed by what we build From the broken things inside
But a day will come when you will know Which way you must choose to go To travel on and live alone Or turn yourself around and try to get back home Try to get back home
And now way up high two jet planes Weave spider webs across the sky As that flatbed Ford has dropped his load Now there he goes swinging by
And the silence gathering 'round this house Makes such a lovely sound That I know for sure that I am cured From turning diamonds, from turning diamonds to coal
'Cause I feel home and I'm done turning diamonds to coal Yes, I'm done turning diamonds to coal Yes, I'm done turning diamonds to coal Yes, I'm done turning diamonds to coal Yes, I'm done turning diamonds to coal
Down at the drugstore where they sell medicine Back in the corner stands a plywood Superman He never saves nobody from nothing He just leans against the wall looking sad
Me, I go climbing on my broken ladder Aiming for high places but I never quite can Lay two hands on the heart of the matter Sometimes I feel like that plywood Superman, Superman
Last night at the truck stop the cashier at the diesel desk Stopped to talk to me as I paid for my beer She's single with two kids, says she loves Las Vegas Her dream's one day some rich man will take her away from here
When she goes climbing on her broken ladder She's searching for some sweet, far off promised land But nobody never breaks free of nothing Wrapped in the arms of a plywood Superman, Superman
Now my old daddy, he worked in a factory And he used to beat on me with his mind not his hands And though for ten years he's laid in that grave in Birmingham To this day I still hear him saying what a useless thing I am
When I go climbing on my broken ladder I'm searching for something but what I don't understand Is how you can climb forever and still never reach nothing Trapped in your life like some plywood Superman, Superman Plywood Superman, plywood Superman Plywood Superman, plywood Superman
Oooh, it's been a long long one day longer than a country mile stronger than a hurricane oooh, it's been a long long day.
This red barn in the field. Dusty winds blow round it. It stands in its place firm and tall.
So safe inside am I that I can see one hundred prairie miles waving on endlessly.
And papa snores again while mama lies awake silently wondering why that grey cat that she loved up and run away, ten years ago one dusty day just like today.
Long one day there I lay under the big windy sky I prayed; dear Lord make the flickering hands of fate finally flip the page to the yellow sun of my coming age.
Oooh, it's been a long, long long day.... longer than a country mile stronger than a hurricane. Oooh, its been a long long day.
