Don McLean Album

The angels are lost in the city of stars
the wise men are down on their knees.
And the fruitman of freeway will sell you his cars
when he's sure that you can't find the keys.

And the ladies on Magdalene lane
all worship the sun and the sand.
And the migrants who come can't complain
for this is their promised land.

La la la la la la la la la,
la la la la la la la.
La la la la la la la la la,
la la la la la la la.

MGM studios can't make the nut
they're auctioning Dorothy's shoes.
Gable is gone, the good witch is a slut
and I've got the parking lot blues.

The wizard brought benzadrine smiles
and he never let Dorothy doze.
She died as she walked down the aisle
and all that remains is her clothes.

Over the rainbow a Kansas tornado
can twist up a little girlÂ's head.
Aunt Em's on relief and the tinman's a thief
and even the wizard can't wake the dead.

La la la la la la la la la,
la la la la la la la.

The prophet has come to this kingdom of lights
but there's no one to listen or learn.
And the savior performs for the prophet's delight
while dissenters are banished or burned.

And the heretics beg to be heard
but the savior's on tour for the week.
Salvation is found in his word
if only he'd learn how to speak.

And Lincoln is laughing with Amos 'n' Andy
concerning the Great Civil War.
And Paul Revere sleeps with the worst looking creeps
while revolution's knocking at his door.

La la la la la la la la la,
la la la la la la la.

Magdalene Lane is the red light domain
where everyone's soul is for sale.
A piece of your heart will do for a start
but you can send us the rest in the mail.

For we have our own families to feed
and we can't let them starve just for you.
Well, we'd rather not watch while you bleed
so come back in an hour when you're through.

It's just another city full of sorrow,
it makes no difference why I came.
I only know I'm leaving here tomorrow
and only the motel man knows my name.

[No lyrics]

Wonderful baby livin' on love
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
where babies float by just
counting their toes.
Wonderful baby nothin' but new
The world has gone crazy, I'm glad I'm not you.
At the beginning or is it the end?
It goes in and comes out and starts over again.
Wonderful baby livin' on love
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
where babies float by, just
counting their toes.
Wonderful baby I'll watch while you grow.
If I knew the future you'd be first to know.
But I don't know nothin' of what
life's about
Just as long as you live, you'll never find out.
Wonderful baby, nothin' to fear.
Love whom you will, but doubt what you hear.
They'll whisper sweet things to make untrue.
So be good to yourself, that's all
you can do.
Wonderful baby, livin' on love the sandman says maybe he'll
take you above,
up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
where babies float by, just counting their toes,
where babies float by, just counting their toes
Ooh.

Where Were You Baby? - (Josh White)
As recorded by DonMclean

I looked through every barroom
And I searched from coast to coast
You were scarce as low-cost housing
Baby when I needed you most

And where were you baby, when my heart went out?
You left me ba by, in all this darkness and doubt

Now I peeked through fancy boudoirs
And I peeked through window grates
I only saw Republicans, romancing Southern states

And where were you baby, when my heart went out?
You left me ba by, in all this darkness and doubt

Now I tried to replace you with a streetwalker named Desire
But prices up so high, hell I couldn't afford to try her
It takes you my baby, baby, baby â€" to put my body out
You left me baby, in all this darkness and doubt

But tonight I think I'm gonna take some good advice
I'm gonna look around and find somebody that's a really nice
Well perhaps a banker's daughter and if her Papa's a cuss
Well I hope to do to her what her Papa does to us

And we'll have fancy shack and a fancy Cadillac
And she'll be studying to be, a nymphomaniac
And we'll have a little rye and we'll play a little gin
We'll have another rye and we'll play another gin

And then we'll have another rye just to get a little glow
Have another rye just to make the conversation flow
And then we'll have another rye and we'll play a little gin
We'll have another rye and we'll tune some music in

And then we'll have another gin.... and we'll play a little rye...
And we'll suddenly realize that we're getting kind of high
And so we'll turn the lights down low...... to keep the bulbs from getting hot

And we'll play a little game called .. "Yes?"...."No!" ...
Why not?

But tonight I think I'm gonna find me something swell
So I can wake up in the morning... miserable as hell

Now when butter costs a dollar, bread costs more than cake
Come back soon cause, babe, think of what a gal like you could make
Yes come back baby, baby, baby â€" don't ever say that we're through
Cos this time, pretty baby.. I'd like to walk right out on you!

I feel the trembling tingle of a sleepless night
Creep through my fingers and the moon is bright
Beams of blue come flickering through my windowpane
Like gypsy moths that dance around a candle flame

And I wonder if you know
That I never I understood
That although you said you'd go
Until you did - I never thought you would

Moonlight used to bathe the contours of your face
While chestnut hair fell all around the pillowcase
And the fragrance of your flowers rest beneath my head
A sympathy bouquet left with the love that's dead

Never thought the words you said were true
Never thought you said just what you meant
Never knew how much I needed you
Never thought you'd leave - until you went

Morning comes and morning goes with no regret
And evening brings the memories I can't forget
Empty rooms that echo as I climb the stairs
And empty clothes that drape and fall on empty chairs

[No lyrics]

By the waters, the waters of Babylon
We lay down and wept, and wept, for thee Zion
We remember thee, remember thee, remember thee Zion
(repeated numerous times)

And I love you so
The people ask me how
How I've lived till now
I tell them I don't know

I guess they understand
How lonely life has been
But life began again
The day you took my hand

chorus:
And yes I know how lonely life can be
The shadows follow me
And the night won't set me free
But I don't let the evening get me down
Now that you're around me

And you love me too
Your thought are just for me
You set my spirit free
I'm happy that you do

The book of life is breif
And once a page is read
All but love is dead
That is my belief

chorus:
And yes I know how loveless life can be
The shadows follow me
And the night won't set me free
But I won't let the evening bring me down
Now that you're around me

And I love you so
The people ask me how
How I've lived till now
I tell them - I don't know

[No lyrics]

[No lyrics]

Rust on your fingers, you got trouble at your feet.
Keep the home fires burning, but look out for the heat
'cause there's a man at the window who knows just what you think,
and there's a water boy behind you who won't give you a drink

Well it's a hard, hard time, no easy road in sight,
it takes a great big man to win a great big fight.

When it comes to dying, no matter what you tell,
They'll let you into a heaven 'cause you lived your life in hell.
Well they've got no way to reward you but to let those breezes blow,
And you've got nothing left to do but to let your anger show.

'Cause it's a hard, hard time, no easy road in sight,
it takes a great big man to win a great big fight.

Think about your baby, think about your wife,
Think about your banker who's trying to take your life.
Think about this planet that's rolling through the night.
Oh can you turn your back on such a great big fight?

You got the muscle, big man, you got the power,
but you're getting weaker with each passing hour.
Just like a flame in the rain, like a light in the night,
well if it's you that must stay, well then it's you that must fight!

'Cause it's a hard, hard time, your future's not bright,
it takes a great big man to win a great big
great big man to win a great big fight.

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

[No lyrics]

Cotton candy, two for a quarter
See if the fat man can guess your weight
A big stuffed tiger is what I bought her
And I'm going home 'cause it's late

Roller coasters make me dizzy
And cotton candy makes me sick
I wish I had some Bromo fizzy
Now that would do the trick

Everyone knows that the clowns aren't happy
And everyone knows that the people don't care
I wish I could laugh at the way that they're acting
But I'm so sick, I just don't dare to

High wire dancers kick and balance
White silk horses step in time
The tattooed man displays his talents
I'm not the talented kind

I always go to the circus on Sunday
And there I can laugh at the people I see
But when I leave home in the morning on Monday
Everybody laughs at me

I make other people nervous
I guess that's why they laugh at me
But to me my life is a three-ring circus
And I can see it for free

Have you seen my wife Elvira?
She can tame a lion, you know
Well, I once had a bushy mane
But that was so damn long ago

Tight-collared clowns in plastic buildings
Have happy families as their fate
Happy jobs and happy clubs
And happy people they hate

Everyone's juggling and everyone's acting
With smiles of grease paint three feet wide
Everyone's caught on a carousel pony
And one time around is a lifetime ride

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

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!!

A long long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.

But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

So
{Refrain}
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the Book of Love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so
Do you believe in rock 'n roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow

Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died

I started singin'
{Refrain}

Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the King and Queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me

Oh, and while the King was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lennon [Lenin?] read a book of Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died

We were singing
{Refrain}

Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
The Byrds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul out on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the Sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died

We started singing
{Refrain}

Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation Lost in Space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrifical rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing
{Refrain}

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music woudn't play

And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died

And they were singing
{Refrain}

They were singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die

[No lyrics]

I was walking by the graveyard, late last Friday night,
I heard somebody yelling, it sounded like a fight.
It was just a drunken hobo dancing circles in the night,
Pouring whiskey on the headstones in the blue moonlight.
So often have I wondered where these homeless brothers go,
Down in some hidden valley were their sorrows cannot show,
Where the police cannot find them, where the wanted men can go.
There's freedom when your walking, even though you're walking slow.

Smash your bottle on a gravestone and live while you can,
that homeless brother is my friend.

It's hard to be a pack rat, it's hard to be a 'bo,
but living's so much harder where the heartless people go.
Somewhere the dogs are barking and the children seem to know
That Jesus on the highway was a lost hobo.
And they hear the holy silence of the temples in the hill,
And they see the ragged tatters as another kind of thrill.
And they envy him the sunshine and they pity him the chill,
And they're sad to do their living for some other kind of thrill.

Smash your bottle on a gravestone and live while you can,
that homeless brother is my friend.

Somewhere there was a woman, somewhere there was a child,
Somewhere there was a cottage where the marigolds grew wild.
But some where's just like nowhere when you leave it for a while,
You'll find the broken-hearted when you're travelling jungle-style.
Down the bowels of a broken land where numbers live like men,
Where those who keep their senses have them taken back again,
Where the night stick cracks with crazy rage, where madmen don't
pretend,
Where wealth has no beginning and poverty no end.

Smash your bottle on a gravestone and live while you can,
that homeless brother is my friend.

The ghosts of highway royalty have vanished in the night,
The Whitman wanderer walking toward a glowing inner light.
The children have grown older and the cops have gripped us tight,
There's no spot round the melting pot for free men in their flight.
And you who leave on promises and prosper as you please,
The victim of your riches often dies of your disease,
He can't hear the factory whistle, just the lonesome freight train's
wheeze,
He's living on good fortune, he ain't dying on his knees.

Smash your bottle on a gravestone and live while you can,
that homeless brother is my friend.
That homeless brother is my friend.

And if she asks you why
You can tell her that I told you that I'm tired
Of castles in the air, I've got a dream
I want the world to share, and castle walls
Just lead me to despair.

Hills of forest green
Where the mountains touch the sky, a dream come true
I'll live there till I die, I'm asking you
To say my last goodbye, the love we knew
Ain't worth another try.

Save me from all the trouble and the pain
I know I'm weak but I can't face that girl again
Tell her the reasons why I can't remain
Perhaps she'll understand, if you tell it to her plain

But how can words express
The feel of sunlight in the morning in the hills,
Away from city strife, I need a
Country woman for my wife, I'm city born,
But I love the country life.

For I will not be part
Of her cocktail generation, partners waltz
Devoid of all romance the music playes
And everyone must dance, I'm bowling out
I need a second chance.

Save me from all the trouble and the pain
I know I'm weak but I can't face that girl again
Tell her the reasons why I can't remain
Perhaps she'll understand, if you tell it to her plain

And if she asks you why
You can tell her that I told you that I'm tired
Of castles in the air, I've got a dream
I want the world to share and castle walls
Just lead me to despair.

[No lyrics]

Winter has me in it's grip
think I'll take a summer trip
on a sunny sailing ship
where the shells lie in the sand

I feel so lonely
I'm to young to feel this old
I need you and you only
when the weather gets this cold. That's why

Winter has me in it's grip
think I'll take a summer trip
on a sunny sailing ship
where the shells lie in the sand

There's no use in going
cause it's cold inside my heart
and it's always snowing
since the day we broke apart.

Winter has me in it's grip
think I'll take a summer trip
on a sunny sailing ship
where the shells lie in the sand.

I tried to run from winter
like this spring and summer run to fall
But when the weather's in you
there's no hiding place at all, that's why

Winter has me in it's grip
think I'll take a summer trip
on a sunny sailing ship
where the shells lie in the sand.

There was a mummy at the fair, all crumpled in a folding chair.
The people passed, but didn't care that the mummy was a man,
so tell me if you can

Chorus:

Who are you? Who are you?
Where have you been, where are you going to?
Well, Andrew McCrew must have lost his way
'Cause though he died long ago he was buried today.

Verse 1:

Down on nightmare alley, where the shady people sway
a hobo came a-hikin' on a salty summer day
Well he hopped a freight in Dallas, and he rode out of sight
But on a turn he slipped, and he lost his grip
and he fell in-to the night.

Repeat Chorus

Verse 2: (same chords as first throughout all other verses)
Well, Andrew had one leg of wood, the other leg was small.
And when he fell off the train that night he found he had no legs at all.
Well they found him in the thicket, and the undertaker came.
And they mummified his body for a relative to claim.

Repeat Chorus

Verse 3:
But no one came to claim him, until the carnival passed through.
The carnies took him to their tent and they decided what to do.
Well they dressed him in a worn-out tugs and they put him on a stand.
And millions saw the legend called the 'famous mummy man'.

Repeat Chorus

Verse 4:
Well, what a way to live a life and what a way to die.
Left to live a living death with noone left to cry.
Petrified amazement, and wonder beyond words,
A man who found more life in death than life gave him at birth.

Repeat Chorus

Verse 5:
But what about the ones who live and wish that they could go.
Whose lives are lost to living and performing for the show.
Well at least you got the best of life until it got the best of you,

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.

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul...
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land.

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen; they did not know how --
Perhaps they'll listen now.


Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue
Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.


Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen; they did not know how --
Perhaps they'll listen now.

For they could not love you
But still, your love was true
And when no hope was left inside
On that starry, starry night
You took your life as lovers often do --
But I could've told you, Vincent:
This world was never meant
For one as beautiful as you.


Starry, Starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget
Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn, a bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen; they're not listening still --
Perhaps they never will...

What can this be, can you tell me?
Would you like to discover why we're not free
To be lovers
I've been wanting to ask you
Where has all the love gone
And what have we become
Storm clouds full of thunder
Move silent as they drum
And when they're gone
we'll be fine, till tomorrow
Though I hope it won't rain
You will be mine
And my sorrow
Will take wings in the morning,
High above the heavens
A rainbow paints the sky
White doves sing their songs of love
I watch them as they fly
And wonder what can this be
Can you tell me
Would you like to discover why we're not free
To be lovers