Don McLean Album

I feel like a spinning top or a Dreidel
The spinning don't stop when you leave the cradle
You just slow down
Round and around the world you go
Spinning through the lives of the people you know
We all slow down
How you gonna keep on turning from day to day?
How you gonna keep from turning your life away?

No days you can borrow, no time you can buy.
No trust in tomorrow. It's a lie.
And I feel like I'm dippin' and divin'.
My sky shoes are spiked with lead heels.
I'm lost in this star car I'm drivin'.
But my air sole keeps pushin' big wheels.
My world is a constant confusion.
My mind is prepared to attack.
My past a persuasive illusion.
I'm watchin' the future it's black.
What do you know?
You know just what you perceive.
What can you show?
Nothing of what you believe.
And as you grow, each thread of life that you leave
Will spin around your deeds and dictate your needs
As you sell your soul and you sow your seeds
And you wound yourself and your loved one bleed
And your habits grow, and your conscience feeds
On all that you thought you should be
I never thought this could happen to me.

I feel like a spinning top or a dreidel.
The spinning don't stop when you leave the cradle.
You just slow down.
Round and around the world you go
Spinning through the lives of the people you know.
We all slow down.
How you gonna keep on turning from day to day?
How you gonna keep from turning your life away? Oh..

I feel like a spinning top or a dreidel.
The spinning don't stop when you leave the cradle.
You just slow down.

I coulda been most anything I put my mind to be,
But a cowboy's life was the only life for me.
It's a strong man's occupation ridin' herd and livin' free,
But strong men often fail
Where shrewd men can prevail,
I'm an old man now with nothin' left to say,
But oh god how I worked my youth away.

Well you may not recognise my face, I used to be a star,
A cowboy hero known both near and far.
I perched upon a silver mount and sang with my guitar,
But the studio of course,
owned my saddle and my horse,
But that six-gun on the wall belongs to me,
Oh god I can't live a memory.

You know I'd like to put my finger on that trigger once again,
And point that gun at all the prideful men.
All the voyeurs and the lawyers who can pull a fountain pen,
And put you where they choose,
With the language that they use,
And enslave you till you work your youth away,
Oh god how I worked my youth away.

Whoopee ty yioh
Whoopee ty yi ay,
One man's work is another man's play
Oh god how I worked my youth away.

You see I always liked the notion of a cowboy fighting crime,
This photograph was taken in my prime,
I could beat those desperados but there's no sense fightin' time,
But the singin' was a ball
Cause I'm not musical at all,
I moved my lips to someone else's voice.

Repeat verse 1

They were married in the old Church yard
And they promised to be true to each other
No matter how hard their lives might be
But like meteors that fell through moments parallel
They were soon to cross
And on different plots of earth they both did fall
Though their lives had really not been hard at all

Chorus:

Oh my what a shame
No one's to blame
It just happened that way
And there's nothing you can say
When two people say goodbye
Oh my...

Two brothers, promised they'd return
When the war that they were fighting was over
But only one lived to keep his vow
And the story I was told said he lived to be quite old
Before time won out
Someone asked if he knew what they both fought for
But he could not recall he had ever been to war

(Chorus)

Bridge:

For there's nothing you can say when it's over
And there's nothing you can do when it's done
There's no battle you can win
And there's nothing to begin
That's not begun

On this moment, I recall your face
And I wonder if you still think about me
Occasionally I still think of you
And I watch the river flow and I know I must let go
But it's oh so hard
For the waves are all around my small canoe
I had always hoped this boat could carry two

(Chorus)

When I see you on the street, I lose my concentration. Just the thought that we
might meet creates anticipation.

Won't you look my way once before you go and my eyes will say what you ought to
know. Well I've been thinkin' about you day and night...and I don't know if
it'll work out right...but somehow I think that it just might...if we try.

Faces come and faces go in circular rotation. But something yearns within to
grow beyond infatuation.

Won't you look my way once before you go and my eyes will say what you ought to
know. Well you've got me standin' deaf and blind...cause I see love as just a
state of mind...and who knows what it is that we might find...if we try.

(Bridge)

You're walking a different direction from most people I've met. You're givin'
me signs of affection I don't usually get. I don't want you to pledge your
future the future's not yours to give. Just stand there a little longer and let
me watch while you live.

'Cause when I see you on the street, I lose my concentration. And just the
thought that we might meet creates anticipation.

Won't you look my way once before you go and my eyes will say what you ought to
know. Well I've been thinking about you day and night...and I don't know if it
will work out right...but somehow I think that it just might...if we try.
Somehow I think that it just might if we try. Yes somehow I think that it just
might if we try.

Note - Don would often change the last chorus when he performed the song live.
The words were something like "Won't you look my way once before you go and my
eyes will say what you ought to know. It'd be so nice to see it all work
out...cause that's what fantasies are all about..."

The auctioneer said, I'm not through yet,
Here's a horse the likes of which you've never seen,
And the straw hats in the sun, with a face beneath each one,
Shown doubtful and the auctioneer got mean.
Do you think that you can find a horse like this every day?
I don't think there's any better on this earth,
And the more you pay, the more it's worth.

Then out she came, a snow-white mare,
Prancin' and a dancin' in the silver sun,
They watched her from behind, as she did her bump and grind,
Walkin' naked, sad and graceful for their fun.
Oh how I wished I could afford that lady painted white,
A queen with high nobility of birth,
But the more you pay, the more it's worth.

My pockets hung with empty blues,
Silent heels were standin' on my growin' pains,
My bid was not too bad, two bits was all I had,
And the stable boy just handed me the reins.
Well the gallery went wild, and the auctioneer half smiled,
What we don't sell we shoot or give away,
'Cause the more you pay, the more it's worth.

And where was the boy, who rode on her back,
With his arms holding tight round her neck?
How tightly he clung,
When they both were young,
And fate had not let this poor girl be so
Disgraced.

Narcisissma, Narcisissma is the pride of Pomona,
Pomona, Pomona says she looks like me.
But she will look like you when I'm set free.

Narcisissma, Narcisissma is the belle of Biloxi,
Biloxi, Biloxi says she's not your kind
But Narcisissma gives me peace of mind.

She's got no braids in the inkwell, no money on the prize.
Ain't got no boyfriend behind her that she can't hypnotize.
And if you wanna see yourself without delusions or delies.
All you do is just look into her eyes.

Narcisissma, Narcisissma has no pride or delusions,
Delusions, delusions make me turn my face
But Narcisissma let's me find my place.

She's got no grudges, no crutches, no pigment and no peeves.
No cryers, no pliers, no liars and no sleeves.
And she will always tell you every thing that she believes.
She's got no belly button too, no high heeled shoe.

Narcisissma, Narcisissma is the pride of Pomona,
Pomona, Pomona says she looks like me.
But she will look like you when I'm set free.

Well everybody's lookin' like they're s'posed to
But nobody's lookin' very good.
So when you find somebody to get close to
Well don't you think you should?

Narcisissma, Narcisissma loves to thrill and delight me,
Delight me, delight me and I'll never quit
'Cause Narcisissma knows just where I fit.

She's got no tight draws, locked doors, nothin' on the side.
Ain't got no skin flaws, in-laws, nothin' left to hide.
And if you need a new location where you'll best be satisfied
You might prefer, to fall in love with her

Narcisissma, Narcisissma is the pride of Pomona,
Pomona, says she looks like me.
But she will look like you when I'm set free.

I can't answer the questions you ask me,
I don't know what to say.
The answers are somewhere lost in the stars
when the night has turned to day.
But I know if the silence of night could be here,
It would drift through my soul and calm all my fear
And I could reach out and draw you so near to me

Touch me and warm me and I will lie still.
And all that you ask me to give you I will
One living moment we'll have for our own.
A brief flash of time that we spent unalone.
But you ask me for nothing and give what you can
And we're wrapped in a pillow of sleep once again
And my memory drifts through the universe when we are one

Closely we're falling through time

And the earth will turn in the silence of space,
always in motion yet always in place
And all things will change yet remain what they are.
And far will be near and near will be far
And the ages will darken and blend into time
And all that is poetry will no longer rhyme
But our moment together is forever sublime

For the time has arrived when we must understand
That we're lost in a void on this sad speck of sand
And nobody knows where we are, no one cares
And the tears that we shed in the dark no one cares
And the madmen who plunder this world for their fame
Have forgotten that no one remembers their name
But time and the universe are always the same

Closely we're falling through time

There's a danger zone, not a stranger zone
Than the little plot I walk on that I call my home
Full of eerie sights, weird and skeery sights
Ev'ry vicious animal that creeps and crawls and bites!!

On the Amazon, the prophylactics prowl On the Amazon, the hypodermics howl On
the Amazon, you'll hear a scarab scowl and sting zodiacs on the wing

All the stalactites and vicious vertebrae
Hunt the stalagmites while laryngitis slay
All that parasites that come from Paraguay in the spring
Hmm, hmm hmmm

Snarling equinox among the rocks will seize you
And the fahrenheit comes out at night to freeze you

Wild duodenum are lurking in the trees
And the jungle swarms with green apostrophes
Oh, the Amazon is calling me

On the Amazon, the pax vobiscum bite
On the Amazon, the epiglottis fight
On the Amazon, the hemispheres at night all slink where the agnostics drink

All the hippodromes that lie concealed in mud
Hunt the metronomes that live in swamp and flood
Then the kodachromes run out and drink their blood, poor ginks

While velocipedes among the weeds will scare you
And the menopause with hungry jaws ensnares you

Frenzied adenoids infest the hills and slopes
Everyone avoids the deadly stethoscopes

Oh, the Amazon is calling
Yes, the Amazon is calling
Oh, the Amazon is calling me-ee!!

If I could say the things I feel, it wouldn't be the same
Some things are not spoken of, some things have no name
Though the words come hard to me, I'll say them just for you
For this is something rare for me this feeling is so new

You see, I love the way you love me
I love the way you smile at me
I love the way we live this life we're in

Long ago I heard the song that lovers sing to me
And through the days with each new phrase I hummed that melody
And all along I loved the song but I never learned it through
But since the day you came along, I've saved it just for you

You see, I love the way you love me
I love the way you smile at me
I love the way we live this life we're in

I don't believe in magic but I do believe in you
And when you say you believe in me there's so much magic I can do

Now you see me, now you don't: watch me dive below
Deep down in your love lake where the sweet fish come and go
And I might sink and I might drown but death don't mean a thing
'Cause life continues right or wrong when I play this birthday song

I learned from you, and you can't even sing

It started out quite simply, as complex things can do;
A set of sad transparencies 'til no one could see through,
But least of all the one inside, behind the iron glass;
A prisonor of all your dreams that never come to pass.

Alone you stand corrupted by the vision that you sought,
And blinded by your hunger all your apetites are bought,
But in spite of what becomes of you, your image will remain;
A reminder of your constant loss, a symbol of your gain.

CHORUS:
And your friends are together,
Where the people are all gathered,
All along the road you travelled all your days.

And soon you have succumbed to what the others all believe,
And though the lie affects them still it's you that they decieve,
And all at once you're lost within the emptieness of you,
And there's no one left who's near enough to tell you what to do.

You're left with nothing but your self-potential in the dark,
Like tinder resting on a rock, protected from the spark,
But your fire just consumes you, you alone can feel the pain,
And you stand in all your glory and you know you can't complain.

CHORUS

But you are surely just as evil as the worst my tongue can tell,
For you'll never face my heaven and I'll not endure your hell.
You have lost your chance to mingle by your constant quiet lies;
Deceptions hidden with your lips, but spoken with your eyes.

For I know you for what you are not for that's really all you are.
And your talents of a minor order seem to stretch too far.
And we both know that this masquerade can't carry on too long.
You're deep inside the Pride Parade, but where do you belong?

CHORUS