31-03-2004, 03:21
Come gather 'round, people, wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a-changin!
Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times, they are a-changin'!
Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
The battle outside is ragin'
It will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times, they are a-changin'!
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times, they are a-changin'
The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fading
And the first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a-changin'!
Hollis Brown, he lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown, he lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children and his cabin broken down
He looked for work and money, and he walked a ragged mile
He looked for work and money, and he walked a ragged miile
Your children are so hungry that they don't know how to smile
Your baby's eyes look crazy, they're a-tugging at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy, they're a-tugging at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why with every breath you breathe
The rats have got your flour, 'bout bloody got your mare
The rats have got your flour, 'bout bloody got your mare
Is there anyone that knows, is there anyone that cares?
You prayed to the Lord above, oh please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above, oh please send you a friend
Your empty pockets that you ain't got no friend
Your baby's a-cryin' louder now, it's a-poundin' on your brain
Your baby's a-cryin' louder now, it's a-poundin' on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' ya like the dirty driving rain
Your grass is turnin' black, there's no water in your well
Your grass is turnin' black, there's no water in your well
You spent your last long dollar on seven shotgun shells
Way out in the wilderness, a cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness, a cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun that's hangin' on the wall
Your brain is a-bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun that you're holding in your hand
There's seven breezes blowin' all around the cabin door
There's seven breezes blowin' all around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out like the ocean's poundin' roar
There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
Some ways in the distance, there's seven new people born
Oh, my name, it ain't nothing
My age, it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I was taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that the land that I live in
Has God on its side
Oh, the history books tell lit
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh, the country young
With God on its side
The Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War, too, was
Soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I was made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side
The First World War, boys
It came and it went
The reason for fighting
I never did get
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead when
God's on your side
The Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And then we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too have
God on their side
I've learned to hate the Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side
But now we got weapons
Of chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shock the worldwide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side
Through many dark hour
I been thinkin' 'bout this
That Jesus Christ was
Betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for ya
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side
So now that I'm leavin'
I'm weary as hell
The confusion I'm feeling
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And they fall to the floor
That if God's on our side
He'll stop the next war
Down the street the dogs are barking and the day is a-gettin' dark
As the night comes in a-fallin', the dogs lose their bark
And the silent night was shattered by the sounds of my mind
It's been one too many mornings and a thousand brown nights
From the crossroads of my doorstep my eyes start to fade
And I turn my head back to the room where my love and I have laid
And I get back to the street, the sidewalk, and the sign
It's been one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind
It's a restless, hungry feeling that don't mean no one no good
And everything I'm saying, you can say it just as good
You write from your side, I'll write from mine
We're both just one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind
Come gather round friends, and I'll tell you a tale
Of when the red iron oppets run plenty
Put the cardboard through the windows and old men on the benches
Tell you now that the whole town is empty
In the north end of town my own children have grown
While I was raised on the other
In wee hours of youth my mother took sick
And I was brought up by my brother
The iron ore poured as the years passed the door
The draglines and shovels, they was a-hummin'
Then one day my brother failed to come home
The same as my father before him
With a long winter's wait, from the window I watched
My friends, they couldn't have been kinder
And my school aid was cut as I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner
Oh, the years passed again, and the givin' was good
With a lunch bucket filled every season
But with three babies born, the work was cut down
To a half a day's ship with no easin'
And the shaft was soon shut and my work was cut
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen
Till a man come to speak, and he said in one week
That Number Eleven was closin'
They complained in the east, they paid too high
They say that your ore ain't worth diggin'
That it's much cheaper down in the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothin'
So the minin' gates locked and the red iron rotted
And the rooms smelled heavy from drinkin'
When the sad silent song made the hour twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinking
I lived by the window as he talked to himself
The silence of tongues, it was building
'Till one morning's week, the bedding was bare
And I's left alone with three children
A summer is gone, the ground's turning cold
The stores one by one, they are folding
My children will go as soon as they grow
Why, there ain't nothing here now to hold them
A bullet from the back of a bush
Took Medgar Evers' blood
A finger fired the trigger to his name
A handle hit out in the dark
A hand set the spark
Two eyes took the aim
Behind a man's brain
But he can't be blamed
He's only a pawn in their game
The South politician preaches to the poor white man
You got more than the blacks, don't complain
You're better than them
You been born with white skin, they explain
And the negro's name
Is used, it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
The deputy sheriff, the soldiers
The governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start, by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up the hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
And the hoofbeats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back with his fist in a clench
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath a hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun
Sets on the one that fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain
Only a pawn in their game
Oh, I'm sailin' away
My own true love
I'm a-sailin' away in the mornin'
Here's something I can send you from across the sea
From the place that I'll be landing
No, there's nothing you can send me
My own true love
There's nothing I'm wishin' to be owning
Just a-carry yourself back to me unspoiled
From across that lonesome ocean
Ahh, but I just thought
You might want something fine
Made of silver or of golden
Heated from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona
If I had the stars
Of the darkest night
And the diamonds from the deepest ocean
I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss
For that's all I'm wishin' to be owning
But I might be gone
A long old time
And it's only then I'm asking
Here's something I can send you to remember me by
To make your time more easy passing
Oh, how can, how can
You ask me again?
It only brings me sorrow
The same thing I would want today
I will want again tomorrow
Oh, I got a letter
On a lonesome day
It was from her ship a-sailing
Sayin' I don't know when I'll be comin' back again
It depends on how I'm a-feeling
If you, my love
Must think that-a-way
I'm sure your mind is a-roamin'
I'm sure your thoughts are not with me
But with the country to where you're goin'
So take heed, take heed
Of the western winds
Take heed of the stormy weather
And yes, there's something you can send back to me
Spanish boots of Spanish leather
Oh, the time will come up when the winds will stop
And the breeze will cease to be breathing
Like the stillness in the wind before the hurricane begins
The hour that the ship comes in
And the sea will split and the ships will hit
And the sands on the shoreline will be shakin'
Then the tide will pound and the wind will pound
And the morning will be breakin'
The fishes will laugh as the swim out of the path
And the seagulls, they'll be smilin'
And the rocks on the sand will proudly stand
The hour that the ship comes in
And the words that are used for to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they're spoken
Or the chains of the sea will have busted in the night
And be buried on the bottom of the ocean
A song will lift as the mainsail shifts
And the boat drifts onto the shoreline
And the sun will respect every face on the deck
The hour that the ship comes in
And the sands will roll out a carpet of gold
For your weary toes to be touchin'
And the ship's wise men will remind you again
That the whole wide world is watchin'
Oh, the foes will rise with the sleep still in their eyes
And they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreaming
But they'll pinch themselves and squeal and know that it's for real
The hour that the ship comes in
Then they'll raise their hands, sayin' they'll meet all your demands
But we'll shout from the bow, Your days are numbered
And like Pharaoh's tribe they'll be drownded in the tide
And like Goliath, they'll be conquered
William Zanzanger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled 'round his diamond-ring finger
At a Baltimore hotel society gathering
And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him
As they rode him in custody down to the station
And booked William Zanzanger for first-degree murder
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain't the time for your tears
William Zanzanger, who had twenty-four years
Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres
With rich, wealthy parents who provide and protect him
In high office, relations in the politics of Maryland
Reacted to his deeds with a shrug of his shoulders
And swear words, and sneering, and his tongue it was a-snarlin'
And in a matter of minutes, on bail was out walkin'
And you who philosophize disgrace and criticize fears
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain't the time for your tears
Hattie Carroll was a maid in the kitchen
She was fifty-one years old and give birth to ten children
Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage
And never sat once at the head of the table
And didn't even talk to the people at the table
Who just cleaned up all the food from the table
And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level
Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cain
That sailed through the air, and came down through the room
Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle
And she never done nothing to William Zanzanger
And you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for your tears
In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level
And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught them
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom
Stared at the person who killed for no reason
Who just happened to be feelin' that way with no warnin'
And spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished
And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance
William Zanzanger, with a six-month sentence
Ahh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fear
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now's the time for your tears
Oh, all the money that in my whole life I did spend
Be it mine right or wrongfully
I let it slip gladly to my friends
To tie up the time most forcefully
But the bottles are done
We've killed each one
And the table's full and overflowed
And the corner sign
Says it's closing time
So I'll bid farewell and be down the road
Oh, every girl that ever I've touched
I did not do it harmfully
And every girl that ever I've hurt
I did not do it knowingly
But to remain as friends
You need the time
To make amends and stay behind
And since my feet are now fast
And point away from the past
I'll bid farewell and be down the line
Oh, every foe that ever I faced
The cause was there before we came
And every cause that ever I fought
I fought it full without regret or shame
But the dark does die
As the curtain is drawn
And somebody's eyes must meet the dawn
And if I see the day
I'd only have to stay
So I'll bid farewell in the night and be gone
Oh, every thought that strung a knot in my mind
I might go insane if it couldn't be sprung
But it's not to stand naked under unknowin' eyes
It's for myself and my friends, my stories are sung
But the time ain't tall
Given time, you depend
And the word is possessed by no special friend
And though the line is cut
It ain't the end
I'll just bid farewell 'till we meet again
Oh, a false clock tries to tick out my time
To disgrace, distract, and bother me
And the dirt of gossip blows into my face
And the dust of rumors covers me
But if the arrow is straight
And the point is slick
You can pierce through dust no matter how thick
So I'll make my stand
And remain as I am
And bid farewell and not give a damn
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a-changin!
Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times, they are a-changin'!
Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
The battle outside is ragin'
It will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times, they are a-changin'!
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times, they are a-changin'
The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fading
And the first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a-changin'!
Hollis Brown, he lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown, he lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children and his cabin broken down
He looked for work and money, and he walked a ragged mile
He looked for work and money, and he walked a ragged miile
Your children are so hungry that they don't know how to smile
Your baby's eyes look crazy, they're a-tugging at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy, they're a-tugging at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why with every breath you breathe
The rats have got your flour, 'bout bloody got your mare
The rats have got your flour, 'bout bloody got your mare
Is there anyone that knows, is there anyone that cares?
You prayed to the Lord above, oh please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above, oh please send you a friend
Your empty pockets that you ain't got no friend
Your baby's a-cryin' louder now, it's a-poundin' on your brain
Your baby's a-cryin' louder now, it's a-poundin' on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' ya like the dirty driving rain
Your grass is turnin' black, there's no water in your well
Your grass is turnin' black, there's no water in your well
You spent your last long dollar on seven shotgun shells
Way out in the wilderness, a cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness, a cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun that's hangin' on the wall
Your brain is a-bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun that you're holding in your hand
There's seven breezes blowin' all around the cabin door
There's seven breezes blowin' all around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out like the ocean's poundin' roar
There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
Some ways in the distance, there's seven new people born
Oh, my name, it ain't nothing
My age, it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I was taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that the land that I live in
Has God on its side
Oh, the history books tell lit
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh, the country young
With God on its side
The Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War, too, was
Soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I was made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side
The First World War, boys
It came and it went
The reason for fighting
I never did get
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead when
God's on your side
The Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And then we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too have
God on their side
I've learned to hate the Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side
But now we got weapons
Of chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shock the worldwide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side
Through many dark hour
I been thinkin' 'bout this
That Jesus Christ was
Betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for ya
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side
So now that I'm leavin'
I'm weary as hell
The confusion I'm feeling
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And they fall to the floor
That if God's on our side
He'll stop the next war
Down the street the dogs are barking and the day is a-gettin' dark
As the night comes in a-fallin', the dogs lose their bark
And the silent night was shattered by the sounds of my mind
It's been one too many mornings and a thousand brown nights
From the crossroads of my doorstep my eyes start to fade
And I turn my head back to the room where my love and I have laid
And I get back to the street, the sidewalk, and the sign
It's been one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind
It's a restless, hungry feeling that don't mean no one no good
And everything I'm saying, you can say it just as good
You write from your side, I'll write from mine
We're both just one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind
Come gather round friends, and I'll tell you a tale
Of when the red iron oppets run plenty
Put the cardboard through the windows and old men on the benches
Tell you now that the whole town is empty
In the north end of town my own children have grown
While I was raised on the other
In wee hours of youth my mother took sick
And I was brought up by my brother
The iron ore poured as the years passed the door
The draglines and shovels, they was a-hummin'
Then one day my brother failed to come home
The same as my father before him
With a long winter's wait, from the window I watched
My friends, they couldn't have been kinder
And my school aid was cut as I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner
Oh, the years passed again, and the givin' was good
With a lunch bucket filled every season
But with three babies born, the work was cut down
To a half a day's ship with no easin'
And the shaft was soon shut and my work was cut
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen
Till a man come to speak, and he said in one week
That Number Eleven was closin'
They complained in the east, they paid too high
They say that your ore ain't worth diggin'
That it's much cheaper down in the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothin'
So the minin' gates locked and the red iron rotted
And the rooms smelled heavy from drinkin'
When the sad silent song made the hour twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinking
I lived by the window as he talked to himself
The silence of tongues, it was building
'Till one morning's week, the bedding was bare
And I's left alone with three children
A summer is gone, the ground's turning cold
The stores one by one, they are folding
My children will go as soon as they grow
Why, there ain't nothing here now to hold them
A bullet from the back of a bush
Took Medgar Evers' blood
A finger fired the trigger to his name
A handle hit out in the dark
A hand set the spark
Two eyes took the aim
Behind a man's brain
But he can't be blamed
He's only a pawn in their game
The South politician preaches to the poor white man
You got more than the blacks, don't complain
You're better than them
You been born with white skin, they explain
And the negro's name
Is used, it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
The deputy sheriff, the soldiers
The governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start, by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up the hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
And the hoofbeats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back with his fist in a clench
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath a hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun
Sets on the one that fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain
Only a pawn in their game
Oh, I'm sailin' away
My own true love
I'm a-sailin' away in the mornin'
Here's something I can send you from across the sea
From the place that I'll be landing
No, there's nothing you can send me
My own true love
There's nothing I'm wishin' to be owning
Just a-carry yourself back to me unspoiled
From across that lonesome ocean
Ahh, but I just thought
You might want something fine
Made of silver or of golden
Heated from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona
If I had the stars
Of the darkest night
And the diamonds from the deepest ocean
I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss
For that's all I'm wishin' to be owning
But I might be gone
A long old time
And it's only then I'm asking
Here's something I can send you to remember me by
To make your time more easy passing
Oh, how can, how can
You ask me again?
It only brings me sorrow
The same thing I would want today
I will want again tomorrow
Oh, I got a letter
On a lonesome day
It was from her ship a-sailing
Sayin' I don't know when I'll be comin' back again
It depends on how I'm a-feeling
If you, my love
Must think that-a-way
I'm sure your mind is a-roamin'
I'm sure your thoughts are not with me
But with the country to where you're goin'
So take heed, take heed
Of the western winds
Take heed of the stormy weather
And yes, there's something you can send back to me
Spanish boots of Spanish leather
Oh, the time will come up when the winds will stop
And the breeze will cease to be breathing
Like the stillness in the wind before the hurricane begins
The hour that the ship comes in
And the sea will split and the ships will hit
And the sands on the shoreline will be shakin'
Then the tide will pound and the wind will pound
And the morning will be breakin'
The fishes will laugh as the swim out of the path
And the seagulls, they'll be smilin'
And the rocks on the sand will proudly stand
The hour that the ship comes in
And the words that are used for to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they're spoken
Or the chains of the sea will have busted in the night
And be buried on the bottom of the ocean
A song will lift as the mainsail shifts
And the boat drifts onto the shoreline
And the sun will respect every face on the deck
The hour that the ship comes in
And the sands will roll out a carpet of gold
For your weary toes to be touchin'
And the ship's wise men will remind you again
That the whole wide world is watchin'
Oh, the foes will rise with the sleep still in their eyes
And they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreaming
But they'll pinch themselves and squeal and know that it's for real
The hour that the ship comes in
Then they'll raise their hands, sayin' they'll meet all your demands
But we'll shout from the bow, Your days are numbered
And like Pharaoh's tribe they'll be drownded in the tide
And like Goliath, they'll be conquered
William Zanzanger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled 'round his diamond-ring finger
At a Baltimore hotel society gathering
And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him
As they rode him in custody down to the station
And booked William Zanzanger for first-degree murder
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain't the time for your tears
William Zanzanger, who had twenty-four years
Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres
With rich, wealthy parents who provide and protect him
In high office, relations in the politics of Maryland
Reacted to his deeds with a shrug of his shoulders
And swear words, and sneering, and his tongue it was a-snarlin'
And in a matter of minutes, on bail was out walkin'
And you who philosophize disgrace and criticize fears
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain't the time for your tears
Hattie Carroll was a maid in the kitchen
She was fifty-one years old and give birth to ten children
Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage
And never sat once at the head of the table
And didn't even talk to the people at the table
Who just cleaned up all the food from the table
And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level
Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cain
That sailed through the air, and came down through the room
Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle
And she never done nothing to William Zanzanger
And you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for your tears
In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level
And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught them
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom
Stared at the person who killed for no reason
Who just happened to be feelin' that way with no warnin'
And spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished
And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance
William Zanzanger, with a six-month sentence
Ahh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fear
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now's the time for your tears
Oh, all the money that in my whole life I did spend
Be it mine right or wrongfully
I let it slip gladly to my friends
To tie up the time most forcefully
But the bottles are done
We've killed each one
And the table's full and overflowed
And the corner sign
Says it's closing time
So I'll bid farewell and be down the road
Oh, every girl that ever I've touched
I did not do it harmfully
And every girl that ever I've hurt
I did not do it knowingly
But to remain as friends
You need the time
To make amends and stay behind
And since my feet are now fast
And point away from the past
I'll bid farewell and be down the line
Oh, every foe that ever I faced
The cause was there before we came
And every cause that ever I fought
I fought it full without regret or shame
But the dark does die
As the curtain is drawn
And somebody's eyes must meet the dawn
And if I see the day
I'd only have to stay
So I'll bid farewell in the night and be gone
Oh, every thought that strung a knot in my mind
I might go insane if it couldn't be sprung
But it's not to stand naked under unknowin' eyes
It's for myself and my friends, my stories are sung
But the time ain't tall
Given time, you depend
And the word is possessed by no special friend
And though the line is cut
It ain't the end
I'll just bid farewell 'till we meet again
Oh, a false clock tries to tick out my time
To disgrace, distract, and bother me
And the dirt of gossip blows into my face
And the dust of rumors covers me
But if the arrow is straight
And the point is slick
You can pierce through dust no matter how thick
So I'll make my stand
And remain as I am
And bid farewell and not give a damn