Folk Singers

"Into a dancer you have grown From a seed somebody else has thrown. Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own. And somewhere between the time you arrive And the time you go, May lie a reason you were alive That you'll never know."

"I want to know what became of the changes We waited for love to bring. Were they only the fitful dreams Of some greater awakening? I've been aware of the time going by; They say in the end it's the wink of an eye."

"You love the thunder and you love the rain. You know your hunger like you know your name. I know you wonder how you ever came To be a woman in love with a man in search of the flame."

"Everybody's just waiting to hear from the one Who can give them the answers And lead them back to that place in the warmth of the sun Where sweet childhood still dances Who'll come along And hold out that strong But gentle fathers hand?"

"Make it on your own if you think you can. If you see somewhere to go, I understand."

"You never knew what I loved in you, I don't know what you loved in me. Maybe the picture of somebody you were hoping I might be."

"Someone's gonna have to explain it to me, I'm not sure what it means. My baby's feelin' funny in the morning; She's having trouble getting into her jeans"

"Honey you shake and I'll rattle and we'll roll on down the line And see if we can't get in touch with a very close friend of mine. But let me clue you in, it ain't like him To argue or pretend-- Honey let me introduce you to my redneck friend."

"When you see through love's illusions, there lies the danger. And your perfect lover just looks like a perfect fool. So you go running off in search of a perfect stranger, While the loneliness seems to spring from your life Like a fountain from a pool."

"Keep a fire for the human race; Let your prayers go drifting into space. You never know what will be coming down, Perhaps a better world is drawing near. Just as easily it could all disappear"

"I got a thing or two to say Before I walk on by. I'm feeling good today. But if die a little farther along, I'm trusting everyone to carry on."

"And their feathers once so fine grew torn and tattered And in the end they traded their tired wings For the resignation that living brings."

"Out into the cool of the evening, Strolls the Pretender. He knows that all his hopes and dreams Begin and end there"

"I'm going to find myself a girl Who can show me what laughter means. And we'll fill in the missing colors In each other's paint-by-number dreams."

"Are you there? Say a prayer for the Pretender. Who started out so young and strong Only to surrender."

"Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels. Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields. '65, I was 17 and running up 101. I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on."

"I told her I had always lived alone and I probably always would. And all I wanted was my freedom. And she told me that she understood. But I let her do some of my laundry, And she slipped a few meals in between. And the next thing I remember, she was all moved in. And I was buying her a washing machine."

"Looking through some photographs I found inside a drawer, I was taken by a photograph of you. There were one or two I know That you would have liked a little more, But they didn't show your spirit quite as true. You were turning round to see who was behind you And I took your childish laughter by surprise, And at the moment that my camera happened to find you There was just a trace of sorrow in your eyes."

"Talk about celestial bodies, And your angels on the wing. She wasn't much good at stickin' around--but That girl could sing. She could sing...In the dead of night, She could shine a light On some places that you've never been. In that kind of light, You could lose your sight And believe there was something to win."

"You could hold her tight With all your might, But she'd slip through your arms like the wind. And be back in flight, Back into the night, Where you might never see her again."

"Oh people, look around you, the signs are everywhere You've left it for somebody other than you to be the one to care You're lost inside your houses,theres no time to find you now"

"I can't keep up with what's been going down, I think my heart must just be slowing down. Among the human beings In their designer jeans, Am I the only one who hears the screams And the strangled cries of lawyers in love?"

"'Cause I have wandered through this world And as each moment has unfurled, I've been waiting to awaken from these dreams. People go just where they will, I never noticed them until I got this feeling That it's later than it seems."

"It's such a clever innocence with which you do your sorcery As if somehow the years just bow and let that young girl go free I thought I was a child, until you turned and smiled"

"I thought I knew where I was going, until I heard your laughter flowing And came upon the wisdom in your eyes"

"Doctor, my eyes have seen the years And the slow parade of fears without crying. Now I want to understand; I have done all that I could To see the evil and the good without hiding. You must help me if you can.Doctor, my eyes Tell me what is wrong. Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?"

"What I was seeing wasn't what was happening at all."

"Maybe people only ask you how you're doing 'Cos that's easier than letting on how little they could care."

"Now the seats are all empty, Let the roadies take the stage. Pack it up and tear it down. They're the first to come and the last to leave, Working for that minimum wage. They'll set it up in another town."

"Well I'm running down the road Tryin' to loosen my load, I've got seven women on my mind, Four that wanna own me, Two that wanna stone me, One says she's a friend of mine."

"The daughter of a captain on the rolling seas, She would stare across the water from the trees. Last time he was home he held her on his knees And said the next time they would sail away just where they pleased."

"Take it easy, take it easy Don't let the sound of your own wheels Drive you crazy."

"Now if I seem to be afraid To live the life that I have made in song Well it's just that I've been losing so long."

"These days I seem to think a lot About the things that I forgot to do For you And all the times I had the chance to."

"These days I sit on cornerstones And count the time in quarter-tones to ten, my friend Don't confront me with my failures I had not forgotten them."

"Well, I'm a standing on a corner In Winslow, Arizona And such a fine sight to see, It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford Slowin' down to have a look at me."

"Well, just look at that girl With the lights comin' up in her eyes. She's got to be somebody's baby; She must be somebody's baby."

"I'm glad that the Bush years are behind us."

"I try to shut my eyes But I can't get her outta my sight. I know I'm gonna know her, But I gotta get over my fright. Well, I'm just gonna walk up to her, I'm gonna talk to her tonight.Yeah, she's gonna be somebody's only light, Gonna shine tonight. Yeah, she's gonna be somebody's baby tonight."

"Though Adam was a friend of mine, I did not know him well. He was alone into his distance, he was deep into his well. I could guess what he was laughing at, but I couldn't really tell. Now the stories told that Adam jumped, but I'm thinking that he fell."

"The promise in her smile shames the mountains tall She can bring the sun to shining. She can tell the rain to fall. It's been a long time, Mama, since I heard you call my name, Ah, been a long time since I heard you call my name I got to see my Colorado girl again Be there tomorrow, Mama, don't you cry"

"The name she gave was Caroline Daughter of a miner Her ways were free It seemed to me That sunshine walked beside her"

"You have to blow off your family. You have to blow off comfort. You have to blow off money.... You have to blow off your ego. You have to blow off everything except your guitar."

"If I needed you, would you come to me? Would you come to me and ease my pain? If you needed me, I would come to you I'd swim the seas for to ease your pain Well, in the night forlorn, oh, the morning's born And the morning shines with the lights of love And you will miss sunrise if you close your eyes And that would break my heart in two The lady's with me now since I showed her how To lay her lily hand in mine Loop and Lil agree, she's a sight to see A treasure for the poor to find"

"Days, up and down they come Like rain on a conga drum Forget most, remember some But don't turn none away Everything is not enough And nothin' is too much to bear Where you been is good and gone All you keep is the getting there To live is to fly Low and high So shake the dust off of your wings And the sleep out of your eyes"

"At one time, friends, I had a ma, I even had a pa Well he beat her with a belt once 'cause she cried She told him to take care of me, headed down to Tennessee Well, it's easier than just a-waitin' around to die I came of age and I found a girl in a Tuscaloosa bar Ah, she cleaned me out and hit it on the sly Well, I tried to kill the pain, I bought some wine and hopped a train It seemed easier than just a-waitin' around to die"

"Pancho was a bandit boys His horse was fast as polished steel Wore his gun outside his pants For all the honest world to feel Pancho met his match you know On the deserts down in Mexico Nobody heard his dying words That's the way it goes All the Federales say They could have had him any day They only let him hang around Out of kindness I suppose"

"I should know who I am by now. I walk the record stands somehow. Thinking of winter. Your name is the splinter inside me. While I wait."

"I had the naive, simplistic idea that producers and writers and artists of the time helped in a minuscule way to change the mind-set of America."

"The songwriting style, to me, is superior... there was a certain amount of joy in it, no matter how sad the song is. You get joy in listening to these Buddy Holly or Roy Orbison sad lyrics. I'm attracted to songs that have balance between the darks and the lights and giving them all equal opportunity."