Marc Cohn Album

I was sitting with Mary
In my dad's blue Valiant
Rain was coming down
And the radio was playing
Mary was talking
A million miles a minute
I could not hear one word she was saying

Cause I was lost
I was gone
Listening to Levon
In another world
In another place
I was was lost
I was gone
Listening to Levon
I was looking at Mary's eyes
but I was listening to Levon

Mary's hair was black
That much I remember
Mary's was skin was smooth
I remember that too
And she opened her eyes
Sometimes when she kissed me
I don't know why she did that
Maybe Mary knew

I was lost
I was gone
Listening to Levon
In another place
In some other world
I was was lost


I was gone
Listening to Levon
I was looking at the girl
But I was listening to Levon

I changed her name
To protect the innocent
I might have even lied
About the car
this is just to say
Sorry if I hurt you
Mary if you're out there
You know who you are

I'm sorry Mary

It serves me right if
You can't even hear me singing
If you tuned me out a long time ago
And it served me right
If you already changed the station
And you're listening right now to that old boy on the radio

And you're lost
And you're gone
Listening to Levon
In another world
From some other place
Are you lost?
Are you gone?
Listening to Levon
Is there a smile your face
while you're listening to Levon?

Johnny took the 4:05 and he rode it
Rode it down the line
He did not know that the ghost of Charlie Christian
Was riding too

That's when he got the feeling
Felt his soul and spirit rise
Closed his eyes and saw a vision
And he was sanctified

He said,
"I have heard a calling
I have heard a calling
I have heard it in the night
And I stood under the light of the calling."

Somebody brushed him on the shoulder
He felt a chill run right down his spine
He did not know that the ghost of Charlie Christian
was riding too


(riding too)

But that's when he got the feeling
[With?] the music coming up from the back
Heard the sound of fingers on steel
And a wheel upon a track

(Chorus)

He said,
"I have heard a calling
I can heard a calling
Like a priest or a missionary
I am only following the calling."

Following the calling....

I used to wake up every morning saying I must be getting away with something here
Every day was like parole before the levies overflowed; I refuse to think it could all just disappear (I refuse to think)
How long before the street car rattles down St. Charles Avenue and beads swing from two hundred year old trees
How long before they walk down long Lake Pontratrain with the smell of just magnolia on the breeze
Yeah I've seen people laughing all the way down to the cemeteries just to send another soul off on its way
Yeah I've seen them dance right up to the edge of it
But this time their gonna dance back from the grave

Dance back
Dance back
Dance back
Dance back from the grave

Well a thousand souls crossed over and they were greeted by an all-star band
And while the saints go marching in there's still hell to pay back down in Dixie Land
Yeah the storms are headed south again and the hour's getting pretty late
Somebody better build that levee its already Mardi Gras at heavens gate (yeah)

Dance back
Dance back
Dance back
Dance back from the grave
Dance back
Dance back
Get your tambourines, slide trombones
And dance… back from the grave
Oh yeah, ooh yeah, ooh yeah

So don't shed a tear for them tonight as they circle and swoop and promenade
They're just carrying their torches and marching in a heavenly parade
No don't shed a tear but take their cue there's only one thing left to do in the name of every soul we didn't save
From the ninth ward to the quarter to the Mississippi border dance back from the grave

Dance back
Dance back
Dance back
Dance back from the grave
Dance back
Dance back
Get your tambourines, slide trombones
And dance… back from the grave
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Get your tambourines, slide trombones
And dance… back from the grave

I finally see your face
In my rear-view mirror
With each mile I put between us
The road keeps gettin' clearer
I only wish that I could make a quiet getaway

Well you probably think I'm foolin' myself
That I just want to have my fun
But leavin' you believe me
Is the first good deed I've done
I'm only tryin' to save us from more heartache if I stay

Cause baby if I, if I, if I were an angel
If I, if I, if I were an angel
I would have earned my wings today

I didn't get a message
From anyone on high


And I dont get instructions
On who to save and why
No heavenly connections sent me down this way

But baby if I, if I, if I were an angel
If I, if I, if I were an angel
I would have earned my wings today

So look up in the sky tonight
Thats where I may be
High over the hillsides
Far across the sea
And if you hear the churchbells ring
Everything's okay

Cause baby if I, if I, if I were an angel
I would have earned my wings today

When your longest night is coming down
When pieces of you hit the ground
When every word they say about you is a lie
When they put your soul up for review
When they're set on turning every screw
Call on me and I will testify

Let me be your witness
Let me be your witness
Let me be your witness

When no one sees and no one hears
Your secret heart
Your bitter tears
When it feels like you're just sinking in the sand
When you cant remember who you are
When you wonder how you came this far
Call my name and put me on the stand

Let me be your witness...

To your mystery
To your ecstasy
To the tears you cry
I will testify
To your longest night
To how hard you fight
To your inner light
A higher place
Your grace
To where you are
And to who you've been
Jesus
Jezebel
To your heaven
To your hell
Let me be your witness
Let me be your witness.

Maybe life is curious to see what you would do
With the gift of being left alive
How love, how give
Spread the higher purpose
And cut through all the shuck and jive
It's only natural, maybe superstitious
To try and find the meaning in beating the odds
Cause sometimes you gotta (get down on your knees)
Sometime (could you get down on your knees)
Sometimes baby (maybe get down on your knees)
And thank the whole wide universe of God's for letting you…

Live out the string
A little longer boy
Raise your voice and make a joyful noise
Ain't no guarantee of anything
Live out the string

Now that a meteorite has fallen in the chair
You just got out of to answer the phone
Will you live every moment like it just might be the last
Or will you still just bitch and moan
Fate is kind, fate is cruel, fate is terminally cool
It's a random interruption in the middle of your groove
But sometime (won't you get down on your knees)
Sometime (get down on your knees)
Sometimes baby (better get down on your knees)
And find yourself a deeper groove, yeah…

Live out the string
A little longer boy
Raise your voice and make a joyful noise
Ain't no guarantee of anything
So live out the string (the string)

Who knows if we got angels on our shoulders (move on)
Right now with the devil in the street
Who knows if it means we got more work to do
But hey baby, don't the air taste sweet
Hey baby, don't the air taste sweet
(hey baby, don't the air taste sweet)

Get down on your knees
Get down on your knees
Live out the string
Live out the string
(yeah-ah, yeah-ah, yeah-ah)

Maybe life is curious to see what you would do
With the gift of being left alive

Deep in the night she quietly creep
Sometime she moan, sometime she weep
When the wind starts a howling out of control
She's trouble in mind, she's nothing but soul
Now don't feel afraid there's nothing to fear
It's just strange visitation year after year
She gave me something I needed but now the feeling is gone
And it's high time I told her she's gonna have to move on

From the eerie lake to the hills that shake
I've been haunted on every coast
I might miss her I know
But I'm letting it go
I'm giving up the ghost
Giving up the ghost

Last night she came in at the usual time
Twelve is the number that the church bells did chime
But the wind didn't blow, there was barely a breeze
Just a light shining over the sycamore trees

From the eerie lake to the hills that shake
I've been haunted on every coast
I might miss her in know
But I'm letting it go
I'm giving up the ghost
Giving up the ghost

Now feeling much better
But I'm still on the brink
I just got a letter in vanishing ink

(Marc Cohn/Malcolm Burn/Kevin Salem)

Out in the late November chill
Crowded behind blue barricades
Peering out over every window sill
Lucky children snap their window shades
The streamers flying through the air
Falling all around the marching band
The country singer smiles and waves her hand
And I'm with you baby
And the voice in the Public Address says:
“Please come and join the parade
I'm know I'm finally home and dry
Please come and join the parade
Don't let it pass you by”
Fat lady smiling as she rolls by
With a big red smile and a sloppy kiss
Furry friends slowly follow
Black mascara
Creatures hiss
Your baby's screaming in your ear
Black hair and red nose face
She's running backwards up the fire escape
But I'm with you baby
And the voice in the Public Address says:
“Please come and join the parade
I'm know I'm finally home and dry
Please come and join the parade
Don't let it pass you by
Don't let it pass you by”
Please come and join the parade
I'm know I'm finally home and dry
Please come and join the parade
Don't let it pass you by
Please come and join the parade
I'm know I'm home
Please come and join the parade
Don't let it pass you by

The chosen ones are walking through the new desert
All the way uptown to Riverside
The faces of the fathers
They look a lot like mine
But I watch them from across the great divide

Today they have all been forgiven
Washed clean before another year begins
Me I'm playing in the park with my children
And I pray that they forgive my sins

This is my sanctuary
On this High Holy Day
I lay down the burdens I carry
In my sanctuary

The forgotten ones
Were screaming from the rooftops
A thousand souls had all been washed away
Everyone was told
The levees wouldn't hold
Now the mourners are marching everyday

And the music keeps rights on playing
'Cause of all the places water wouldn't fall
It wasn't the churches or the chapels
It was down at the Preservation Hall

"This is my sanctuary"
You could almost hear the ghost of some old trumpet player say
"Lay down the burdens you carry
In my sanctuary"

The chosen ones are all still searching
Waiting for the savior to appear
While you and me
We congregate in mystery
And I listen to you whisper in my ear

This is my sanctuary
Brothers and sisters let us pray
I lay down the burdens I carry
In my sanctuary

(Marc Cohn)

Without your father or your mother
Life goes on
Without your sister or your brother
Life goes on
Without your children down the line
Oh the drum stays right in time
And life goes on
Without Elvis
Without Jesus
Life goes on
Without anything it pleases
Life goes on
Without the beggar or the king
Without every living thing
Life goes on
Without the movers and the shakers
Life goes on
With all the undertakers
Life goes on
You might think it's gonna stop
Just because you're closing shop
But life goes on
Life goes on
Life goes on

[No lyrics]