Lyrics
ELLIS DEE Jimmy Buffett,
Buzz Cason
Why is he cussin' and calling disgustin'
The city that is now his home
He never smiles or keeps up with styles
He is black and he is all alone
And you ask why he's this way
Well brother you're too blind to see
It's 'cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
Get out of the street don't get high on my beat
Go on home the policeman warns
Just 'cause you're poor why do you declare war
I can't help the way you were born
Why are they holdin' him down
He's spending his life on his knees
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
Chorus:
Got to help Ellis
Got to help Ellis
You know we got to help Ellis Ellis Dee
Try and help Ellis you and me
Got to get to Ellis hear his plea
Try and help Ellis get free
Ellis got hooked he got booked and he shook
In his cold little shivery cell
While out on the street in that same funky beat
Mister pusher was doing well
And Ellis Junior cries tears his daddy can't see
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
Chorus
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
No Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
THE MISSIONARY Jimmy
Buffett
I didn't know we were at war
I've been away so long
Trying to help once lost men
Distinguish right from wrong
I didn't know we killed the men
Our leaders proud and strong
The situation's changed my friend
I've been away too long
I taught my friends
How we had gained respect for every man
And freedom flowed like jungle streams
While peace embraced the land
I told them how we'd learn to change
Our sword blades into plows
I told them how they should learn from us
What should I tell them now
Chorus:
'Cause I didn't know we were at war
I've been away so long
Trying to help once lost men
Distinguish right from wrong
The jungle silence shut them off
From civilized mankind
Their nakedness was no disgrace
No censors could I find
The population lived in peace
All brothers on their own
And now that I have seen the mess
I don't think I'll go home
'Cause I didn't know we were at war
I've been away so long
I told them they should learn from us
I think I told them wrong
A MILE HIGH IN DENVER
Jimmy Buffett
Sittin' on a pocket full of hard earned wages
Lookin' at the world through magazine pages
I heard a lot about the mountains and the Colorado range
Made this stop for personal reasons
I didn't know I'd catch the changin' of the seasons
Where winter dictates everything from frost to naked trees
I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
I've walked this ground from town to town
Just to finally call it mine
Lookin' for the cloud with a styrofoam lining
Hopin' that the sun will keep on shining
Leading me to distant peace that waits so patiently
Need a little love to try some givin'
Try a little love and then start livin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong
I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
I've walked this ground from town to town
Tonight I'll call it mine
Sittin' on a pocket full of hard earned wages
Lookin' at the world through magazine pages
I heard a lot about the mountains and the Colorado range
Need a little time to try some livin'
Try a little love and then start givin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong
I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
Where God and trees create the breeze
Tonight I'll call it mine
THE CAPTAIN AND THE KID
Jimmy Buffett
I never used to miss the chance to climb up on his knee
And listen to the many tales of life upon the sea
We'd go sailing back on Barkentines we'd talk of things he did
Tomorrow just a day away for the Captain and the kid
His world had gone from sailing ships to raking mom's backyard
He never could adjust to land although he tried so hard
We both were growing older then and wiser with the years
That's when I came to understand the course his heart still steers
He died about a month ago while winter filled the air
And though I cried I was so proud to love a man so rare
He's somewhere on the ocean now that's where he oughta be
With one hand on the starboard rail he's wavin' back at me
I never used to miss the chance to climb up on his knee
And listen to the many tales of life upon the sea
We'd go sailing back on Barkentines we'd talk of things he did
Tomorrow just a day away for the Captain and the kid
CAPTAIN AMERICA Jimmy
Buffett
Can you tell me where I might find my friend and companion
He looks a little different from anything you've seen
He likes to beat the bass drum for justice and salvation
He's got the brains of Einstein and brawn of Mister Clean
He's a lightin flash who makes the dash from one coast to the other To
stop a crime or lend a dime or help his aging mother Captain America
we love you, Captain America you're grand Oh Spiro Agnew eat your
heart out, Captain America's our man
He wears a mask his clothes his clothes are weird and some folks call
him hokie But he is hip and just can't dig the okie from Muskogie
Captain will help anyone a friend or a stranger Now number one without
a gun he's bypassed the Lone Ranger He's a do do good who loves apple
pie and kisses little babies He'll guard you against everything from
atom bombs to rabies
Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out, Captain America's our man
Can you tell me where I might find my friend and companion
He looks a little different from anything you've seen
He likes to beat the bass drum for justice and salvation
He's got the brains of Einstein and brawn of Mister Clean
He's a lightin flash who makes the dash from one coast to the other To
stop a crime or lend a dime or help his aging mother
Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out, Captain America's our man
TURNABOUT Jimmy Buffett
As large as life she stood there
Kissed my cheek and called my old nickname
And though several years had passed
Both of us still looked quite the same
I said Hi, relaxed a bit then asked her how she'd been all these years
She told me she was feeling fine and came to see a friend who lived up
here
She told me she had finished school
And then went on to college for a year
I asked if she had married
And slowly down her cheek there came a tear
She said just an itchy eye it must be the weather way up here
Told her I can't stand the cold
It freezes me and I can't feel my ears
We talked a bit about Mobile
And thought about how it has never changed
I told her I was comin' home to spend some time
And hoped it wouldn't rain
She asked if she could see me then
And we could spend some time now and then
Because I lived so far away
Was still no chance why we could not be friends
I drove her to the waiting plane
And watched that big jet streaking through the sky
Thought about the sad young girl
And the time that I just saw her cry
That flame must still be burning bright
I think I'll catch a later flight today
It's time for me to go on home and spend a day or two down by the bay
THERE'S NOTHING
SOFT ABOUT HARD TIMES Jimmy Buffett
Every day held a new surprise
I watched the hunger burning in my sister's eyes
The paste-board shack we called home
Would haunt me in my dreams
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
We never knew anything groovy
A dime meant bread and not a movie
The muscles that controlled my smile were rarely ever used
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
Had to go 'cause I could see I wasn't meant for poverty
The family ties were broken soon and I went off to find the moon
So I sit on a bench in Jackson Square
I drink my wine and I breathe the midnight air
Tomorrow I'll just hit the street and bum another dime
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
Had to go 'cause I could see I wasn't meant for poverty
The family ties were broken soon and I went off to find the moon
So I sit on a bench in Jackson Square
I drink my wine and I breathe the midnight air
Tomorrow I'll just hit the street and bum another dime
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
I CAN'T BE YOUR HERO TODAY
Jimmy Buffett
It's never been the same since you returned from dreamin'
With your nursery rhyme excuses and your picture postcards gleamin'
Tellin' everyone who looks your way 'bout people and their sinnin'
While your left field verse is fallin' in proprtion to your winnin'
And I can't be your hero today
I'm through with the simple games you play
It just might take some time to even up the score
But I can't be your soldier home from war
And there you sit shining that there's still hope for us
While nature holds the handcuffs on a Capricorn and Taurus
There's nothing you can do or say to get me to your camp
Go fill up all your savings books and buy yourself a lamp
And I can't be your hero today
Your wholesale price is much too high to pay
Bargain basement atmosphere is no way to sell love
And I can't be your superman above
No I can't be your hero today
That is all I really want to say
Go find a leading man who wants to play
But I can't be your hero today
TRUCKSTOP SALVATION Jimmy
Buffett
Straight-laced leather-faced he rolled in like he owned the two-bit
town Dollar bills bulging from his bell bottomed jeans The population
they gathered 'round Nothing this exciting since a fertilizer truck
Blew a front tire and landed in the creek
Everybody talkin' everybody strainin'
Tryin' to get a little peek
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free
Payin' for the gas he quickly shouted thanks
And continued on his journey once again
Just about the time a siren fast approached and
The pot bellied sheriff he whizzed right in
With his self inflicted grammar started shoutin'
Accusations at the long haired greasy looking ape
While a local DJ from the fifty watt station got the
whole damn thing on tape
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free
The holy roller preacher told the eager congregation
That the devil has passed right through their nest
But the teenage girls with their locks in curls were
A talkin' 'bout that hair upon his chest
Now the kids got their cookies while the preacher
Saved some souls and the story spread to everyone in sight
Commotion was the word and everybody heard
He was gone before the night
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free
ACE Jimmy Buffett
It hardly seems a long time just a minute of the day
When the man who stood beside me more than gave himself away
The food stain on his spotted shirt a gray beard on his face
A man composed of many names so I just called him Ace
Ace can't read and Ace can't write and
He sleeps on a bench at night
A little man the world has left behind
He ain't bitter he ain't sweet
Makes his living on the street
Never knowin' what he's gonna find
Born in Mississippi pickin' cotton as a child
Left soon for the city where he heard that life was wild
That was fifty years ago when nothin's really strange
From a poor dirt farm to dirty streets is really not much change
Ace can't read and Ace can't write and
He sleeps on a bench at night
A little man the world has left behind
He ain't bitter he ain't sweet
Makes his living on the street
Never knowin' what he's gonna find
Go back to the country no he really can't do that
Wasted years have left him nothin' but an old straw hat
So he puts it on his head and waves a last good-bye
With no time left to turn around and no time to ask why
Ace can't read and Ace can't write and
He sleeps on a bench at night
A little man the world has left behind
He ain't bitter he ain't sweet
Makes his living on the street
Never knowin' what he's gonna find
This old world has left poor Ace behind
Rockefeller Square Jimmy
Buffett, Buzz Cason
Did you ever just want to lay down
Tell the world you've had enough
Did you ever just want to drop out
When the goin' got a little bit rough
Have you ever walked the sidewalks hungry
Have you ever really had the blues
So now you want to see how the other half lives
Well brother whatcha got to lose
Whatcha got to lose if you leave your home
And you never think of ever goin' back
Your father's makin' money for the good of the country
And your mother's out bettin' at the track
Camptown ladies sing them songs doo dah doo dah
Now you want to let your hair grow long
And get a little pad uptown
Throw away your checkbook and all your credit cards
And use your wits to get around
So you think it's gonna make you happy
See your story in the evening news
Makin' a game out of pointin' the blame
Brother whatcha got to lose
Hey lonely Rockefeller Square
The underground world don't fit a millionaire
Hey Rocky whatcha gonna do
First time you've ever had the pressure on you
But Rock when the rockin' and the bummin' is through
There'll still be piece of Daddy's kingdom for you
Rocky you sure hurt your mama
And your daddy's got an ulcer for you
With the stock market shot and the war's still hot
It was sure was a cruel thing to do
(So don't cry boy)
Hey lonely Rockefeller Square
The underground world don't fit a millionaire
Hey Rocky whatcha gonna do
First time you've ever had the pressure on you
But Rock when the rockin' and the bummin' is through
There'll still be piece of Daddy's kingdom for you
Money today money to pay
Don't you go gay
Rocky better pray
Bend A Little Jimmy
Buffett, Buzz Cason
Evil it's been here all along
Good things they just seem to have come and gone
In my life I have seen so much go wrong
And there's only one way left for us to get along
You got to bend a little one way or the other
You got to leave your mind open to discover
Seems I've been fightin' it all along
You got to bend a little no matter which side you're on
Or soon you'll be gone
Papers they print it every day
Housewife wraps the garbage then throws it away
I don't guess she thinks they have that much to say
But when the time is right she'll be the lady with so much to pay
You got to bend a little one way or the other
You got to leave your mind open to discover
Seems I've been fightin' it all along
You got to bend a little no matter which side you're on
Or soon you'll be gone
History it teaches much too well
Nations had to rise up before they fell
And my eyes see the story they're tryin' to tell
And tonight I think I heard the final toll of the bell
We better...
bend a little one way or the other
You got to leave your mind open to discover
Seems I've been fightin' it all along
You got to bend a little no matter which side you're on
Or soon you'll be gone
IN THE SHELTER Jimmy
Buffett
In the shelter
In the morning as the sun was brightly beaming
I heard her cryin' out what is it all about
I just don't know
But I can't go back home
Lonely princess
All the days out on your own are growing empty
Nothing is goin' well if you could only tell them
How you feel
But they're too real to understand
Too many trite expressions ended in forced rejections
long ago
Too many innocent faces too many far out places
something's wrong
Let me tell you that something's wrong
It's been that way so long
It's a shame
On the street car
To the city where she knows that she might lose it all
Riding for just a dime taking her own sweet time
and knowing well
This could be her final fall
Past the boutique
down the alley to the river people pass her by
Sits on the big gray rocks takes off her boots and socks
And knowing what she will do next
Just starts to cry
Too many small suggestions ending in angry questions
from her dad
Too many TV dinners and everyone loves a winner
But she was lost
No one knows the trials she had
In the shelter
In the morning as the sun was brightly beaming
I heard her cryin' out what is it all about
I just don't know
But I can't go back home
Lord I just don't know but I can't go back home
DEATH VALLEY LIVES Jimmy
Buffett
It's the ways of her father
If she's gonna change she hasn't done it yet
And the desert is calling to me
Run before the final trap is set
All roads lead to the city
Where the dudes and the dykes all look the same
Lady lays out the pattern
With the parts of her body that seem tame
Death Valley lives and Tracy isn't sure what really gives
Act like a child and I'll respond with my well-rehearsed farewell
Quoting the verse that you bought but weren't quite prepared to sell
Saying I think I love you
Maybe I care
It's not fair
Death Valley lives and Tracy Isn't sure what really gives
And it's a sore spot when the room's burning hot
And the desert air just cannot bring you down
Still the bed's warm but a cold arm
Keeps me floating inches off the ground
Death Valley lives and Tracy isn't sure what really gives
Go paint your toes wipe your nose and then come say good-bye
And all along tell yourself that I'm wrong if I try
Cryin' sorry it's over
I'm not to blame
What a game
Death Valley lives now I'm not even sure what really gives
LIVINGSTON'S GONE TO TEXAS
Jimmy Buffett
Nothing here is different
Nothings changed at all
Livingston's gone to Texas
They say he had a ball
They say he learned to be a cowboy
They say he learned to rope and ride
But I wonder if he ever thinks about the tears his woman cried
Now Holly won't you let me
Try and make you smile
You loved him as if he were your husband
Now he'll be gone awhile
Wrote he had to see the country
On starry nights he wished that you were there
And so it shows wherever he goes
Deep inside you know he really cares
It's crazy and it's different
But it's really being free
And reasons the world would want to question
Makes sense to you and me
Nothing here is different
Nothing's changed at all
Livingston's still in Texas
The snows about to fall
ENGLAND Jimmy Buffett, Buzz
Cason
I have watched as the sun went down
I have crashed as the room spun around
Now she's gone, she can't be found
And I'm down where I've been before
Sat and watched as she walked out the door
Can't explain why the woman's so
It's gonna rain some more
Somebody told me the last word they heard her say was England
Somebody said that she mentioned the airline and the fare
Now I wonder if she's there
'Cause she took every cent of mine
Paid it all to the Pan Am line
Though she's gone, I hope she's fine
Fly love of mine
Somebody told me the last word they heard her say was England
Somebody said that she mentioned the airline and the fare
Now I wonder if she's there
So tally-ho
Jolly good show
My woman's gone to England
TRAVELIN' CLEAN Jimmy
Buffett
You go to Fargo
We'll meet in Chicago
Travelin' light and travelin' clean
In my nine wheel blue and white travelin' machine
And I'm gone I'm movin' on yes I'm gone
No time to look back
We've crossed the last track
Travelin' free and travelin' wild
With my barefoot blue-eyed travelin' child
And I'm gone I'm movin' on yes I'm gone
Run away Queen
Travelin 'clean
You tell your mother
That you love another
Runnin' with a free-born man
That asks more of you than your hand
And I'm gone I'm movin' on yes I'm gone
Run away Queen
Travelin 'clean
You go to Fargo
We'll meet in Chicago
Travelin' light and travelin' clean
In my nine wheel blue and white travelin' machine
And I'm gone I'm movin' on yes I'm gone
Come away travelin' queen
THE HANG OUT GANG Jimmy
Buffett, Buzz Cason
The tour bus passed here yesterday
Exciting all the fools who pay
To see the naked lady in our yard
The hang out gang is back in town
Rumor has it going 'round they brought back
Four new groupies and a St. Bernard
We're peaceful and abiding cats
Some call gypsies some call brats
But bare feet don't tear streets up like their bus
All we were doin' was hangin' and little Koochie was sangin'
Mama I'm guilty of hangin' out
I know it's a shabby old building but after all ain't we God's
children And Lord it's a good place for hangin' out
The fast approachin' local heat was poundin' out the southeast beat
When they came upon Koochie in our yard She smiled "Sir, I meant no
harm just a little suntan on my arm They wound up takin' in our St.
Bernard (He didn't tag you'all)
All we were doin' was hangin' and little Koochie was sangin'
Mama I'm guilty of hangin' out
I know it's a shabby old building but after all ain't we gods children
And Lord it's a good place for hangin' out
Now you hang with me and I'll hang with you and we'll hang out
'Til we both turn blue
Mama I'm guilty of hangin' out
All we were doin' was hangin' and little Koochie was sangin'
Mama I'm guilty of hangin' out
I know it's a shabby old building but after all ain't we gods children
And Lord it's a good place for hangin' out
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