The Band Album

You can walk on the water, drown in the sand
You can fly off a mountaintop if anybody can
Run away, run away--it's the restless age
Look away, look away--you can turn the page

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street
I got six on each arm and two more round my feet
Life is a carnival--believe it or not
Life is a carnival--two bits a shot

Saw a man with the jinx in the third degree
From trying to deal with people--people you can't see
Take away, take away, this house of mirrors
Give away, give away, all the souvenirs
We're all in the same boat ready to float off the edge of the world
The flat old world
The street is a sideshow from the peddler to the corner girl
Life is a carnival--it's in the book
Life is a carnival--take another look

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street
I got six on each arm and two more round my feet
Life is a carnival--believe it or not
Life is a carnival--two bits a shot

Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble,
ancient footprints are everywhere.
You could almost think that you're seeing double,
On the cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs.
Gotta hurry on back to my hotel room,
Where I got me a date with a pretty little girl from Greece.
She promised she'd be there with me,
When I paint my masterpiece.

Oh, the hours we spent, inside the Coliseum.
Dodging lions, and a-wasting time,
oh those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see 'em
Yes it sure has been a long, hard drive.
Train wheels a-running thru the back of my memory,
When I ran on a hilltop following a pack of wild geese,
Someday everything is gonna sound like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece.

Sailing round the world in a dirty gondola,
Oh to be back in the land of, Coca-cola.
Well I left Rome, and landed in Brussels,
On a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried,
Clergy men in uniform, and young girls pulling mussels,
Everyone was there to greet me when I stepped inside,
Newspaper men eating candy,
Had to be held down by big police.
Someday, its gonna be different,
When I paint my masterpiece.

Who robbed the cradle, who robbed the grave
Who's the one that asked to be saved
No, wo-wo-wo no answer came
I moved to the country that cried of shame
I left my home and found a name
No, nobody could explain

Have mercy, cried the blacksmith
How're you gonna replace human hands
Found guilty, said the judge
For not being in demand

Frozen fingers at the keyboard
Could this be the big reward
No, no answer came
Brought up everybody to see for themselves
They wouldn't believe it from no one else
No, nobody could explain

Dead tongue said the poet
To the daughter of burlesque
Cocteau, Van Gogh and Geronimo
They used up what was left

Cry wolf, said the martyr
I don't believe I'm alive
You're the hero, said the mute
And you're bound to survive

Did you hear about the eagle of distinction
The one that came on every Friday afternoon
Well, it seems that eagle has near flown into extinction
Descending to the sand
His biggest enemy being man
Have you ever seen the freedom on the wing

Where do we go from here? I asked my woman
Where do we go from here? Oh woman, my woman
La la la la la la la la la, she said, nowhere

Did you hear about the railroad going under
How it seems its days are numbered on the board
Well, I feel sad about the railroad and it's no wonder
It'd run right by my door
I can't hear it anymore
How can you get to sleep when the whistle don't moan

Where do we go from here? Is there no way of knowing
Where do we go from here? Oh, I need to be shown
La la la la la la la la la, they said, somewhere

Have you heard about the buffalo on the plain
And how at one time they'd stampede a thousand strong
Now that buffalo's at the zoo standing in the rain
Just one more victim of fate
Like California state
You sure do miss the silence when it's gone

Where do we go from here? I hear from no one
Where do we go from here? Could you tell me, someone
La la la la la la la la la, I'd go anywhere

The management said they were sorry
For the inconvenience you are suffering
And Mr. Booking Agent, please have mercy
Don't book the jobs so far apart
We went up to Griffith Park
With a fifth of Johnny Walker red
And smashed it on a rock and wept
While the old couple looked on into the dark

Oh, Richard, tell me if it's poker
Oh, Richard, tell me, who's got the joker and is it poker

Deuces wild, like an only child
I'll see what you got. How much is in the pot
You pay the tips and I'll collect the chips
It's a full house tonight--everybody in town is a loser
Yeah, you bet

The dealer's been dealing me bad hands
From the bottom of the deck without the slightest blush
And I don't know whether to call or check
But right now I feel like I got a royal flush
And my lady didn't show from 'Frisco
But we had to go on with the show
Everybody got stoned--it was a gas, it was a smash
Everybody got wrecked, checked. Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, Belfast cowboy, lay your cards on the grade
Oh, Belfast cowboy, can you call a spade a spade

Oh, Richard, tell me, is the game poker
I can't understand who the fool is that holds this joker
Is it poker

Oh, Belfast cowboy, lay your cards down on the table
Oh, Belfast cowboy, do you think you're able

Trouble on the waterfront
Evil in the air
When the Chinatown patrol came down
To bring a little order there
They came in undercover
To the laundry's back room
And right there before their eyes
Was a Shanghai saloon

Shoot out in Chinatown
They lined them up against the wall
They're gonna turn the place upside down
Till you won't recognize it at all

Streets were wide open
Till the break of dawn
'Twas Frisco in its heyday
Imported from Hong Kong
For about five dollars
Or one thousand yen
You could gamble and ramble in a brothel
Or take it to the opium den

Shoot out in Chinatown
They nailed up every door
They're gonna level it to the ground
And close it up for evermore

Confucius had once stated
All across the land
Below the surface, crime and love
They go hand in hand
The fire dragons burn
Buddha's lost his smile
But swears that we will meet again
In just a little while

Till you won't recognize it at all

Julie and little John Tyler lived in the house next door
We would be the great triangle and to this we swore
Julie was my sweetheart, little John was my cohort
And all the wild horses in the world couldn't keep us apart
Once we went for a swim in the noonday sun
And promised to return before the moon struck one

Julie came running through the pasture - she was screaming at the sky
She fell down to her knees and the tears did fly
Little John was stung by a snake over by the lake
And it looked like he s really, really hurt - he was lying in the dirt
Who, we went it as fast as we could run
But we lost little John as the moon struck one

I was vacant, Julie was a bird with a broken wing
We were always afraid of what tomorrow might bring
We'll drive down to Durango - up and leave this place
And maybe forget the triangle with a change of pace
The car broke down when we had just begun

And we walked back to the house while the moon struck one

I was thinkin' out loud
Talking to myself
I was up on a cloud
There was nobody else
No, no I did not call
I never was allowed
To speak up at all
I was just thinkin' out loud

Transylvania train, circus never came
The heroes are all gone
No trampoline, fell without a scream
Who's looking for a job

Before I realized, I was hypnotized
Flashback to the past
Cross-eyed jack, monkey on his back
We knew it would not last

Room service gone off duty
The bellman has retired
This hotel is a beauty
Even the house dick's been fired
Then the sky came crashing down
And knocked me off this cloud
When I fell to the ground
I was just thinkin' out loud

Went to the movie matinee
To see the blue coats try to get away
From a smoke signal
Above the trees
A smoke signal
Shifting in the breeze
Some folks think it's make believe
Other folks ain't so naive
About a smoke signal
Could see it coming
A smoke signal
Hear the drums drumming

You don't believe what you read in the paper
You can't believe the stranger at your door
You don't believe what you hear from your neighbor
Your old neighborhood ain't even there no more

Indian maid will plant the seed
And cultivate a whole new breed
There's a smoke signal
Over your head
A smoke signal
You know what it said?
When they're torn out by the roots
Young brothers join in cahoots
To send a smoke signal
Near and far
A smoke signal
No matter where you are

You don't believe what they say on the radio
You don't believe what you see on the video
Living in the shadow of a doubt today
Still waiting for the smoke to clear away

Tried to get in touch with you
Tried to get my message through
By smoke signal
Honey, do ya read me
Smoke signal
Call me if you need me
There you were all in white
Standing out in the broad daylight
Lookin' like a smoke signal
From heaven above
Smoke signal
Oh, my love

Got my motor runnin'
Little girl, are you comin'
Keep your candle burning bright

Soon as you are ready
Hold that ladder steady
Come tread softly through the night

Don't leave me in the dark
Like a ghost rider in your yard
Carving names in bark along the boulevard

I'd be a bushwhacker
Even be your hijacker
Keep your candle burning bright

When we cross that railroad track
There'll be no turning back
Come tread softly through the night

Don't leave me sitting here
Up on top of your fence
I'm like an alley cat up here, without a lick of sense

Volcano--I'm about to blow
Volcano--Gonna overflow
Volcano--Look out below

Don't leave me empty-handed
Like a villain in the woods
Prowling around the grounds, trying to make off with the goods

Volcano--I'm about to blow
Volcano--Gonna overflow
Volcano--Look out below

The ladies would put the baskets on the table
And the men would sit beneath a shady tree
The children would listen to a fable
While something else came through to me
The river got no end, just roll around the bend
Then pretty soon the women would all join in
On the river hymn...

The whole congregation was standing on the banks of the river
We are gathered here to give a little thanks thanks

The voice of the rapids will echo
And ricochet like an old water well
Who d ever want to let go
Once you sit beneath its spell
It's dark and wide and deep, towards the sea it creeps
I'm so glad I brought along my mandolin
To play the river hymn...

You can ride on it or drink it
Poison it or dam it
Fish in it and wash in it
Swim in it and you can die in it
Run, you river, run

Son, you ain't never seen yourself
No crystal mirror can show it clear, come over here instead
Son, you ain't never eased yourself
Til you laid it down in a river bed
If you hear a lonesome drone, it's as common as a stone
And gets louder as the day grows dim
That's the river hymn...

The whole congregation was standing on the banks of the river
We are gathered here to give a little thanks thanks