Joan Baez Album

We went down to the edge of the water
You were afraid to go in
You said there might be sharks out there in the ocean
And I said I'm only going for a swim

I was swimming around in a circle
I wasn't always in view
You said we might get into red flag danger
And I am alone when I'm not with you

But I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
And I am no fisherman's slave
I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
I keep my head above the waves

We were swinging from the centre of the ceiling
You were afraid to give in
I said I know I'll always live for this feeling
And you closed your eyes you said never again

We were dancing in the middle of the desert
You said we'll burn under the hot sun
I said I'd rather be the colour of pleasure
Than watch like you from under the thumb

But I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
And I am no fisherman's slave
I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
I keep my head above the waves

We went down to the edge of the water
You were afraid to go in
You said there might be sharks out there in the ocean
And I said I'm only going for a swim

I was living around in a circle
I wasn't always in view
You said we might get into red flag danger
And I am alone when I'm not with you

But I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
And I am no fisherman's slave
I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
I keep my head above the wave

Must've been in late September
When last I climbed Reunion Hill
I fell asleep on Indian Boulder
And dreamed a dream I will not tell
I came home as the sun went down
One eye trained upon the ground
Even now I find their things
Glasses, coins, and golden rings

It's ten years since that ragged army
Limped across these fields of mine
I gave them bread, I gave them brandy
But most of all I gave them time
My well is deep, the water pure
The streams are fed by mountain lakes
I cleaned the brow of many a soldier
Dousing for my husband's face

I won't forget our sad farewell
And how I ran to climb that hill
Just to watch him walk across the valley
And disappear into the trees

Along there in a sea of blue
It circles every afternoon
A single hawk in God's great sky
Looking down with God's own eyes
He soars above Reunion Hill
I pray he spiral higher still
As if from such an altitude
He might just keep our love in view

You say you can't remember this man she can't forget
You say that it's been too damn long time to bury the hatchet
And if it made a difference well you would say you're sorry
It really makes you wonder why you should even bother

There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
All fall down

She was just a baby (seems so long ago)
Left a little crazy (seems so long ago)
Sleepy little southern state (seems so long ago)
Never heard of segregate
Never heard of segregate
Never heard of segregate

He was just a hired hand (no one's left to blame)
Daddy was a working man (it's a dirty shame)
Work took Daddy far from home (no one's left to blame)
Better hide the evidence (of a dirty little game)

There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
All fall down

No one in that big, old house heard the baby cry
Hide your guilt in ignorance so no one has to lie
No one in her daddy's house heard her make a sound (now there's)
Blood on everybody's hands
Blood on everybody's hands
Blood on everybody's hands
(Gonna come around again)

He was just a hired hand (no one's left to blame)
Daddy kept him on again (it's a dirty shame)
For ten long years he watched her grow
For ten long years he watched her
Nobody would ever know the places that he touched her

There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
All fall down

Now you say don't remember this man she can't forget
You say that your life must go on time to bury the hatchet
And if she was so damned afraid you're sure you would remember
Children will exaggerate
Children will exaggerate
Children will exaggerate
Children will exaggerate

There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
All fall down

No one can find me

No one will find me now

I threw your keys in the water, I looked back
They'd frozen halfway down in the ice
They froze up so quickly, the keys and their owners
Even after the anger, it all turned silent
And the everyday turned solitary, so we came to February

First we forgot where we'd planted those bulbs last year
And then we forgot that we'd planted it all
Then we forgot what plants are altogether
And I blamed you for my freezing and forgetting
And the nights were long and cold and scary, can we live through February?

You know I think Christmas was a long red glare
Shot up like a warning, we gave presents without cards
And then the snow, and then the snow came
We were always out shoveling and we dropped to sleep exhausted
Then we wake up, and it's snowing

And February was so long that it lasted into March
And found us walking a path alone together
You stopped and pointed and you said, "That's a crocus"
And I said, "What's a crocus?", And you said, "It's a flower"
I tried to remember, but I said, "What's a flower?"
You said, "I still love you"

The leaves were turning as we drove to the hardware store
My new lover made me keys to the house
And when we got home, well we just started chopping wood
Because you never know how next year will be
And we'll gather all our arms can carry, I have lost to February

Please have a seat. I'm sorry I'm late
I know how long you've had to wait
I did not forget your documents
No time to waste, why not begin?
Here's how it works, I've got these faces
You give them names and I won't deport you
Make sure you face my tape recorder

Make no mistake, this fountain pen
Could put you on a plane by ten
And by the way, your next of kin
I know which house she's hiding in
So now that you know whose skin you're saving
In this photograph, who's this one waving?
I think you know, so speak up, amigo

It says here that by trade you were a fisherman
Well I'll bet you Indians can really reel them in
And if you get the chance
You should try to get up to Lake Michigan
Well maybe, but then again....

Where were we then? Is he your friend?
Well I recommend that you look again
Where does he stay? What is his name?
There is no shame. He'd do the same
So what do you say? I don't have all day
It's up to you. Which will it be
Good citizen or poor campesino?

My dad used to rent us this place in Ontario
He showed us how to cast the line and tie the flies
He used to say that God rewards us for letting the small ones go
Well maybe, but I don't know
Anyway, it's easy to bite. You just take the bait
You can't snap the line
Don't fight the hook
Hurts less if you don't try to dive

Senor, as you know I was a fisherman
And how full the nets came in
We hauled them up by hand
But when we fled, I left them just out past the coral reefs
They're waiting there for me
Running deep

I never thought you were the letter writing type
So now I see the words you chose the way you write
So I started to write back about the trees in the snow
And I saw a bird, couldn't see what it was but I thought you'd know
You always surprised me

And if I wrote you
If I wrote you
You wouldknow me
And you would not write me again

And when the spring came and flooded all the streams
It's like how you got the night you told me all you dreams
And when the barn roof sagged after an icy bout
It's like how you got when you knew the truth was the only way out
But not the only way

And if I wrote you
If I wrote you
You wouldknow me
And you would not write me again

We drew our arms around the bastard sons
We never would drink to the chosen ones
Well you know the way I left was not the way I planned
But I thought the world needed love and a steady hand
So I'm steady now

And I'm so happy
I had to tell you
And I love you
And you will not write me again
You will not write me again
You will not write me again

Lily lived in a farmhouse at the edge of town
Long black braids like anchor chains
How they weighed her down
Dark eyes, pale skin
Mean dad, she was my second grade friend
My very best friend

She had four older brothers that I sometimes dreamed about
Mennonite children like wild indians
In a one room schoolhouse
At sixteen she ran away
Married, her first chance to escape

Oh Lily, why'd you have to cut your hair
Oh Lily, I loved us just the way we were
Princess of the field and daughter of the moon
Oh Lily

A lifetime later I passed through Buffalo and found her house
Same sweet Lily was looking through the eyes
Of the woman I was talking to now
She gave me a rose she made
Of silk and memories of a lost yesterday

Oh Lily, why'd you have to cut your hair
Oh Lily, I loved us just the way we were
Princess of the field and daughter of the moon
Oh Lily

Two silhouettes in the afternoon
Princess of the field and daughter of the moon

Oh Lily, why'd you have to cut your hair
Oh Lily, I loved us just the way we were
Princess of the field and daughter of the moon
Oh Lily

Oh Lily, why'd you have to cut your hair
Oh Lily, I loved us just the way we were
Princess of the field and daughter of the moon
Oh Lily

I am not on top of a mountain and
I am not under the ground
I am not spilling over the edges and
I am not easily found
I am not in a shelter from the winter
When your head is buried in the sand
Why do the secret sellers explain things
Things I already understand

And who do you think I am
Yes you who do you say I am

Once when I was flying past the steeple
The bells were ringing in my ears
And I was counting the broken-hearted people
And I was following their tears
I am not sinking in the sadness
I am not throwing bitter stones
I do not worry who will mind me
I am not dancing alone

But you who do you think I am
Yes you who do you say I am

Is it winter where you are
Try to find me if you can

When it's over it's never over
And when it's empty it's never gone
I am in silence gone from danger
Far away is the forgotten one
I am headed from that distant lighthouse
I am twisting towards the sun
I wrap around me all your goodness
If I go that way am I the only one

But you who do you think I am
Yes you who do you say I am

Late last night I awoke in a dream
To the sound of a voice that was almost a scream
Oh oh oh
From out of the city and out of the street
Out where the wind hits the cold concrete
Oh oh oh
It's cold outside
Darkness your enemy
No place to hide
The voice said this to me
In your doorways I have shivered
In your alleys I have gone to ground
But I will be delivered
Someday I will be mercy bound

I dreamed again it was west L.A.
On a crowded street on a hot summer day
She was alone
Three months late and beginning to show
In a midriff blouse she would soon outgrow
She had no one to call
And no way home
And in my mind
I knew I'd seen myself
But in our blindness
It always seems like someone else
There I was a rag a bone
A remnant in your lost and found
I was for once truly alone
Longing to be mercy bound

And I knew that I would wander as child in the forest
Till they found me
And I called out to them but I could not penetrate the silence
All around me

And when I wake I know you'll comfort me
And I won't sleep again for an eternity
But others lie awake at night
In desperation more profound
And the coming of the morning light
Will not see them mercy bound

And some will never dream again
From sleeping on the ground
Just longing to belong
And dying to be mercy bound
Oh please don't stop your dreaming
Someday we'll all be mercy bound

My name is Eliza
I live by the river
My daughter Louise
Will be three in July
If July ever comes
It's beginning to feel
Like the water will never
Surrender the field

Everyone knows
Rivers will swell
But they always find money
They always find money
They always find
Money for floods

The President came
In a green helicopter
He and the Governor
Walked all around
My sister broke down
And he gave her a hug
And told her he'd do
Everything that he could

Everyone knows
Rivers will swell
But they always find money
They always find money
They always find

When I was sixteen
I went out with a boy
I'd tell you his name
If I thought it would help
He told me he loved me
And tossed me a girl
The bigger my belly
The faster he ran

Everyone knows
Rivers will swell
But they always find money
They always find money
They always find

I never thought you were the letter writing type
So now I see the words you chose the way you write
So I started to write back about the trees in the snow
And I saw a bird, couldn't see what it was but I thought you'd know
You always surprised me

And if I wrote you
If I wrote you
You wouldknow me
And you would not write me again

And when the spring came and flooded all the streams
It's like how you got the night you told me all you dreams
And when the barn roof sagged after an icy bout
It's like how you got when you knew the truth was the only way out
But not the only way

And if I wrote you
If I wrote you
You wouldknow me
And you would not write me again

We drew our arms around the bastard sons
We never would drink to the chosen ones
Well you know the way I left was not the way I planned
But I thought the world needed love and a steady hand
So I'm steady now

And I'm so happy
I had to tell you
And I love you
And you will not write me again
You will not write me again
You will not write me again

We went down to the edge of the water
You were afraid to go in
You said there might be sharks out there in the ocean
And I said I'm only going for a swim

I was swimming around in a circle
I wasn't always in view
You said we might get into red flag danger
And I am alone when I'm not with you

But I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
And I am no fisherman's slave
I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
I keep my head above the waves

We were swinging from the centre of the ceiling
You were afraid to give in
I said I know I'll always live for this feeling
And you closed your eyes you said never again

We were dancing in the middle of the desert
You said we'll burn under the hot sun
I said I'd rather be the colour of pleasure
Than watch like you from under the thumb

But I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
And I am no fisherman's slave
I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
I keep my head above the waves

We went down to the edge of the water
You were afraid to go in
You said there might be sharks out there in the ocean
And I said I'm only going for a swim

I was living around in a circle
I wasn't always in view
You said we might get into red flag danger
And I am alone when I'm not with you

But I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
And I am no fisherman's slave
I am no mermaid
I am no mermaid
I keep my head above the wave

Must've been in late September
When last I climbed Reunion Hill
I fell asleep on Indian Boulder
And dreamed a dream I will not tell
I came home as the sun went down
One eye trained upon the ground
Even now I find their things
Glasses, coins, and golden rings

It's ten years since that ragged army
Limped across these fields of mine
I gave them bread, I gave them brandy
But most of all I gave them time
My well is deep, the water pure
The streams are fed by mountain lakes
I cleaned the brow of many a soldier
Dousing for my husband's face

I won't forget our sad farewell
And how I ran to climb that hill
Just to watch him walk across the valley
And disappear into the trees

Along there in a sea of blue
It circles every afternoon
A single hawk in God's great sky
Looking down with God's own eyes
He soars above Reunion Hill
I pray he spiral higher still
As if from such an altitude
He might just keep our love in view

You say you can't remember this man she can't forget
You say that it's been too damn long time to bury the hatchet
And if it made a difference well you would say you're sorry
It really makes you wonder why you should even bother

There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
All fall down

She was just a baby (seems so long ago)
Left a little crazy (seems so long ago)
Sleepy little southern state (seems so long ago)
Never heard of segregate
Never heard of segregate
Never heard of segregate

He was just a hired hand (no one's left to blame)
Daddy was a working man (it's a dirty shame)
Work took Daddy far from home (no one's left to blame)
Better hide the evidence (of a dirty little game)

There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
All fall down

No one in that big, old house heard the baby cry
Hide your guilt in ignorance so no one has to lie
No one in her daddy's house heard her make a sound (now there's)
Blood on everybody's hands
Blood on everybody's hands
Blood on everybody's hands
(Gonna come around again)

He was just a hired hand (no one's left to blame)
Daddy kept him on again (it's a dirty shame)
For ten long years he watched her grow
For ten long years he watched her
Nobody would ever know the places that he touched her

There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
All fall down

Now you say don't remember this man she can't forget
You say that your life must go on time to bury the hatchet
And if she was so damned afraid you're sure you would remember
Children will exaggerate
Children will exaggerate
Children will exaggerate
Children will exaggerate

There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
There's a mirror in the house at the edge of town
There's a crack in the mirror
All fall down

No one can find me

No one will find me now

Highway 40 roll on by.
If I could reach across the distance for a moment,
I'd steal the sadness from her eyes.

It's February and the weather's clear for driving,
How I've missed your Tennessee.
The morning sun just stole the shadows from the mountains,
And the years away from me.

Yes I've changed and I knew that I was able,
But you still look the same to me.
And your eyes are just as blue across the table,
As the sky in Tennessee.

This old farm is ne'er so big as I remember,
Now the fields are burned and brown.
The Pigeon River's running deeper than December,
Where the Winter snows lay down.

How you love your house and this long bed sent from Kenya,
And the telling of the story of the woman you met there.
She's a darkhaired beauty - my hair's only growing thinner,
And my threads a little bare.

Yes I've changed and I knew that I was able,
But you still look the same to me.
And your eyes are just as blue across the table,
As the sky in Tennessee.

In the silence hear the years, we dare not speak of,
Let this arrow pass on through.
And I'll be gone before my heart has met resistance,
Like you hoped that I would do.

See the Redtail turn her wing toward the mountain,
God there's sunlight in your smile.
If I could reach across the distance for a moment,
I'd steal her memory from your eyes.

Yes I've changed and I knew that I was able,
But you still look the same to me.
And your eyes are just as blue across the table,
As the sky in Tennessee.
As the sky in Tennessee.

I threw your keys in the water, I looked back
They'd frozen halfway down in the ice
They froze up so quickly, the keys and their owners
Even after the anger, it all turned silent
And the everyday turned solitary, so we came to February

First we forgot where we'd planted those bulbs last year
And then we forgot that we'd planted it all
Then we forgot what plants are altogether
And I blamed you for my freezing and forgetting
And the nights were long and cold and scary, can we live through February?

You know I think Christmas was a long red glare
Shot up like a warning, we gave presents without cards
And then the snow, and then the snow came
We were always out shoveling and we dropped to sleep exhausted
Then we wake up, and it's snowing

And February was so long that it lasted into March
And found us walking a path alone together
You stopped and pointed and you said, "That's a crocus"
And I said, "What's a crocus?", And you said, "It's a flower"
I tried to remember, but I said, "What's a flower?"
You said, "I still love you"

The leaves were turning as we drove to the hardware store
My new lover made me keys to the house
And when we got home, well we just started chopping wood
Because you never know how next year will be
And we'll gather all our arms can carry, I have lost to February

Why is it that as we grow older and stronger
The road signs point us adrift and make us afraid
Saying, 'You never can win'
'Watch your back', 'Where's your husband?'
I don't like the signs that the signmakers made

So I'm going to steal out with my paint and brushes
I'll change the directions, I'll hit every street
It's the Tinseltown scandal, the robin hood vandal
She goes out and steals the king's English
And in the morning you wake up and the signs point to you

They say, "I'm so glad that you finally made it here
You thought nobody cared but I did, I could tell
And this is your year and it always starts here
And oh, you're aging well"

Well I know a woman with a collection of sticks
She could fight back the hundreds of voices she heard
She could poke at the greed, she could fend off her need
And with anger she found she could pound every word

But one voice got through, caught her up by surprise
It said, "Don't hold us back we're the story you tell"
And no sooner than spoken, a spell had been broken
And the voices before her were trumpets and tympani
Violins, basses and woodwinds and cellos, singing

"We're so glad that you finally made it here
You thought nobody cared, but we did, we could tell
And now you'll dance through the days while the orchestra plays
And oh, you're aging well"

Now when I was fifteen, oh I knew it was over
The road to enchantment was not mine to take
'Cause lower calf, upper arm should be half what they are
I was breaking the laws that the signmakers made

And all I could eat was the poisonous apple
And that's not a story I was meant to survive
I was all out of choices but the woman of voices
She turned round the corner with music around her
She gave me the language that keeps me alive, she said

"I'm so glad that you finally made it here
With the things you know now, that only time could tell
Looking back, seeing far, landing right where we are
And oh, you're aging, oh and I am aging oh, aren't we aging well?"

Please have a seat. I'm sorry I'm late
I know how long you've had to wait
I did not forget your documents
No time to waste, why not begin?
Here's how it works, I've got these faces
You give them names and I won't deport you
Make sure you face my tape recorder

Make no mistake, this fountain pen
Could put you on a plane by ten
And by the way, your next of kin
I know which house she's hiding in
So now that you know whose skin you're saving
In this photograph, who's this one waving?
I think you know, so speak up, amigo

It says here that by trade you were a fisherman
Well I'll bet you Indians can really reel them in
And if you get the chance
You should try to get up to Lake Michigan
Well maybe, but then again....

Where were we then? Is he your friend?
Well I recommend that you look again
Where does he stay? What is his name?
There is no shame. He'd do the same
So what do you say? I don't have all day
It's up to you. Which will it be
Good citizen or poor campesino?

My dad used to rent us this place in Ontario
He showed us how to cast the line and tie the flies
He used to say that God rewards us for letting the small ones go
Well maybe, but I don't know
Anyway, it's easy to bite. You just take the bait
You can't snap the line
Don't fight the hook
Hurts less if you don't try to dive

Senor, as you know I was a fisherman
And how full the nets came in
We hauled them up by hand
But when we fled, I left them just out past the coral reefs
They're waiting there for me
Running deep

My name is Eliza
I live by the river
My daughter Louise
Will be three in July
If July ever comes
It's beginning to feel
Like the water will never
Surrender the field

Everyone knows
Rivers will swell
But they always find money
They always find money
They always find
Money for floods

The President came
In a green helicopter
He and the Governor
Walked all around
My sister broke down
And he gave her a hug
And told her he'd do
Everything that he could

Everyone knows
Rivers will swell
But they always find money
They always find money
They always find

When I was sixteen
I went out with a boy
I'd tell you his name
If I thought it would help
He told me he loved me
And tossed me a girl
The bigger my belly
The faster he ran

Everyone knows
Rivers will swell
But they always find money
They always find money
They always find

I am not on top of a mountain and
I am not under the ground
I am not spilling over the edges and
I am not easily found
I am not in a shelter from the winter
When your head is buried in the sand
Why do the secret sellers explain things
Things I already understand

And who do you think I am
Yes you who do you say I am

Once when I was flying past the steeple
The bells were ringing in my ears
And I was counting the broken-hearted people
And I was following their tears
I am not sinking in the sadness
I am not throwing bitter stones
I do not worry who will mind me
I am not dancing alone

But you who do you think I am
Yes you who do you say I am

Is it winter where you are
Try to find me if you can

When it's over it's never over
And when it's empty it's never gone
I am in silence gone from danger
Far away is the forgotten one
I am headed from that distant lighthouse
I am twisting towards the sun
I wrap around me all your goodness
If I go that way am I the only one

But you who do you think I am
Yes you who do you say I am

Ramona, come closer,
Shut softly your watery eyes.
The pangs of your sadness
Shall pass as your senses will rise.
The flowers of the city
Though breathlike, get deathlike at times.
And there's no use in tryin'
T' deal with the dyin',
Though I cannot explain that in lines.

Your cracked country lips,
I still wish to kiss,
As to be under the strength of your skin.
Your magnetic movements
Still capture the minutes I'm in.
But it grieves my heart, love,
To see you tryin' to be a part of
A world that just don't exist.
It's all just a dream, babe,
A vacuum, a scheme, babe,
That sucks you into feelin' like this.

I can see that your head
Has been twisted and fed
By worthless foam from the mouth.
I can tell you are torn
Between stayin' and returnin'
On back to the South.
You've been fooled into thinking
That the finishin' end is at hand.
Yet there's no one to beat you,
No one t' defeat you,
'Cept the thoughts of yourself feeling bad.

I've heard you say many times
That you're better 'n no one
And no one is better 'n you.
If you really believe that,
You know you got
Nothing to win and nothing to lose.
From fixtures and forces and friends,
Your sorrow does stem,
That hype you and type you,
Making you feel
That you must be exactly like them.

I'd forever talk to you,
But soon my words,
They would turn into a meaningless ring.
For deep in my heart
I know there is no help I can bring.
Everything passes,
Everything changes,
Just do what you think you should do.
And someday maybe,
Who knows, baby,
I'll come and be cryin' to you.