Songs That Tell Stories

The Little Blue Man
Betty Johnson

One morning when I was out shopping
Though you'll find it hard to believe
A little blue man came out of the crowd
And timidly tugged at my sleeve.

"I wuv you! I wuv you!" said the little blue man
"I wuv you! I wuv you to bits."
"I wuv you!" He loved me said the little blue man
And scared me right out of my wits.

I hurried back to my apartment
I rushed in and I closed the door
But there on the desk stood the little blue man
Who started to tell me once more

"I wuv you! I wuv you!" said the little blue man
"I wuv you! I wuv you to bits."
"I wuv you!" He loved me said the little blue man
And scared me right out of my wits.

For weeks after that I was haunted
Though no one could seehim but me
Right by my side was the little blue man
Wherever I happened to be.

One evening in wild desperation
I rushed to a rooftop in town
And over the side pushed the little blue man
Who sang to me all the way down

"I wuv you! I wuv you!" said the little blue man
"I wuv you! I wuv you to bits."
"I wuv you!" He loved me said the little blue man
And scared me right out of my wits.

I whispered, "Thank goodness that's over!"
I smiled as I hurried outside
But there on the street stood the little blue man
Who said with a tear in his eye

"I don't wuv you anymore!"

Russians - Words and music by Sting

In Europe and America, there's a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mr. Krushchev said we will bury you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
It would be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russian love their children too

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy
There is no monopoly of common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent
To put words in the mouth of the president
There's no such thing as a winnable war
It's a lie we don't believe anymore
Mr. Reagan says we will protect you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us me and you
Is that the Russians love their children too

this song was written by tex morton

Sergeant Small - Weddings Parties Anything

I went broke in western Queensland in 1931,
Nobody would employ me so my swaggy days begun
I headed out to Charleville, out to the western towns,
I was on my way to Roma, destination Darling Downs

And my pants were getting ragged, my shoes were getting thin,
When we stopped in Mitchell, a goods train shunted in,
The engine blew her whistle, I was looking up to see,
She was on her way to Roma, that was very plain to me.

I wished that I was 16 stone and only seven foot tall,
I'd go back to western Queensland, and beat up Sergeant Small.

As I sat and watched her, inspiration seemed to grow,
And I remembered the government slogan, "It's a railway that you own"
So by the time the sun was setting, and night was going nigh,
So I gathered my belongings and I caught her on the fly.

And as we came into Roma, I tucked my head down low,
And a voice said "any room mate?" and I answered, "Plenty Beu"
Then at this tip this noble man, the voice of Sergeant Small,
Said, "I've trapped you very nicely, you're headed for a fall"

I wished that I was 16 stone and only seven foot tall,
I'd go back to western Queensland, and beat up Sergeant Small.

(instrumental, then change key)

The Judge was very kind to me, he gave me thirty days,
He said, "Maybe that would help to cure my rattler jumping ways"
So if your down and outback, let me tell you what I think,
Just stay off the Queensland railways, it's a shortcut to the clink.

I wished that I was 16 stone and only seven foot tall,
I'd go back to western Queensland, and beat up Sergeant Small.
I'd go back to western Queensland, and beat up Sergeant Small.

and here's a tribute to tex morton

Morton (song For Tex)


(Thomas)
He stopped to change a tyre out near Warnambool,
His Chevy it was all over the road.
He pulled into town sometime in the early afternoon,
More than a normal travelling salesman, the guitar his only load.
And we were all there waitin', in the Colac hall,
Our little legs a-swinging 'neath the chairs,
But I just sucked a butter menthol and never once looked at the girls,
Would the 'Cat Come Back' like last time? I fell into despair.
But here's a go, let's catch the show and lay your money down,
Cause Morton's back in town.
And I still hear the way he played his old guitar,
And I still hear the way he sang those songs.
And I still hear his voice so crisp and clear above the crowd,
Do I remember? Am I joking?
Somehow it all just seems so strong.
And could he crack a whip?
You bet he could (don't you make me laugh!)
And could he tell a joke? He would make you cry.
And could he hypnotise and do a dance and spin a yarn?
You name it, he could do it with the winkin' of an eye!
But here's a go, let's catch the show and lay your money down,
Cause Morton's back in town.
Ain't it funny how time passes, how the years just slip away.
And the memories we have they play their games.
And now it's me who's strumming guitars,
Now it's me who's travelling round,
But somehow I get the feeling that it isn't quite the same...
For it was never quite this easy,
It was never quite this hard.
But it never made much sense to theorise,
When the show closed down you'd pack your things,
You'd soon be on your way.
First you see him, now you don't,
He'd be gone before your very eyes.
But here's a go, let's catch the show and lay your money down,
Cause Morton's back in town.
From the U.S.A. to Canada,
He played the roving clown,
Morton's back in town.
From Dunedin to Germany and on to Darling Downs.
Hey, Morton,
The Great Morton, Tex Morton!
Morton's back in town.

Go Hide John

I wrote and told you how I felt from Kamran Bay
But you just threw all of my words away
Now I'm back home on the sweet side of the pond
And I thought I'd call and tell you
Go hide John
Hide 'im well and tell 'im hell's
Coming in on an airplane
Tell him all his California skies are gone
Oh he helped you cash and drink up all my bonds
And I thought I'd call and tell you
Go hide John
Hide 'im ell and tell 'im hell's
Coming in on an airplane
Tell him all his California skies are gone----

"Ain't Goin' to Goa", Alabama 3 (A3)

I believe I'm gonna
Shut down my chakras, shift Shiva off of my shelf
Take down my tie dyes, my Tibetan bells
Cool down my karma with a can of O.P.T.
Ain't no call for Casteneda in my frontline library.

There's one thing I know, Lord above,
I ain't gonna go,
I ain't goin' to Goa, Ain't goin' to Goa now
Ain't goin' to Goa, Ain't gonna Goa now.

Ain't dancin' trance, no thanx, no chance to tranquilise me.
Ain't sippin' no smart bar drinks, yo, that don't satisfy me.
Dosing up my dharma, with a drop of gasoline,
I ain't down with Mr. McKenna, tantric mantra talkin' don't move me.

I don't need no freaky, deeky, fractal geometry, crystal silicon chip.
I ain't walking on ley lines, reading no High Times put me on another bad trip.
Timothy Leary, just check out this theory,
he sold acid for the F.B.I.
Well, he ain't no website wonder, the guru just went under,
you can keep your California Sunshine.

'Cos the righteous truth is, there ain't nothing worse than
some fool lying on some Third World beach wearing
spandex, psychedelic trousers, smoking damn dope
pretending he gettin' consciousness expansion. I want
consciousness expansion, I go to my local tabernacle
an' I sing with the brothers and sisters

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DO RE MI
(Woody Guthrie)

Lots of folks back East they say, leaving home every day
Beating the hot old dusty way to the California line
Cross the desert sands they roll, getting out of the old dust bowl
Think they're going to a sugar bowl, but here's what they find
Now police at the port of entry say,
"you're number fourteen thousand for today

Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks, you ain't got the do re mi
Why you better get back to beautiful Texas, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi

You want to buy a house or a farm, that can't do nobody harm
Or take your vacation by the mountain or sea
Don't swap your old cow for a car, you'd better stay right where you are
Better take this little tip from me:
Cause I look through the want ads every day
And the headlines in the papers always say

It was such a nice day today, these songs seemed fitting:

Alabama, "Cheap Seats"
This town ain't big, this town ain't small.
It's a little of both they say.
Our ball club may be minor league but at least it's triple A.
We sit below the Marlboro man, above the right field wall.
We do the wave all by ourself.
Hey ump, a blind man could've made that call.

Chorus
We like our beer flat as can be.
We like our dogs with mustard and relish.
We got a great pitcher what's his name.
Well we can't even spell it.
We don't worry about the pennant much.
We just like to see the boys hit it deep.
There's nothing like the view from the cheap seats.

The game was close, we'll call it a win.
Go off to toast the boys again.
That local band is back in town.
They got a kinda minor league sound.
They're not that bad, they're not that good.
But all in all it's understood.
We wanna dance, they wanna play.
We wouldn't have it any other way.

Chorus
Cheap seats

Now the majors called up oh what's his name.
And one more buildin' rises tall.
And suddenly we're all grown up.
And this old town not quite so small.
But I'll always miss the middle size town.
In the middle of the middle-west.
With no name pitchers and local bands,
and mustard and relish and all the rest.

Chorus
Cheap seats


John Fogarty, "Center Field"

Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today
We're born again, there's new grass on the field
Roundin' third, and headed for home, it's a brown-eyed handsome man
Anyone can understand the way I feel

{Refrain}

Oh, put me in, coach - I'm ready to play today
Put me in, coach - I'm ready to play today
Look at me, I can be center field

Well, I spent some time in the Mudville Nine, watchin' it from the bench
You know I took some lumps when the Mighty Case struck out
So Say Hey Willie, tell Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio
Don't say it ain't so, you know the time is now

{Refrain}

Yeah! I got it, I got it

Got a beat-up glove, a homemade bat, and brand-new pair of shoes
You know I think it's time to give this game a ride
Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all - a moment in the sun
It's gone and you can tell that one goodbye

{Refrain twice}

Tape From California - Phil Ochs

Who's that coming down the road
A sailor from the sea
He looks a lot like me
I'd know him anywhere, have to stare

Feathers at his fingertips
A halo 'round his spine
He must have lost his mind
He should be put away, right away
In the corner of the night
He handed me his waterpipe
His eyes were searching deep inside my head

Here's what he said
Sorry I can't stop and talk now
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow
But I'll send you a tape from california

New york city has exploded and it's crashed upon my head
I dove beneath the bed
Fighting, biting nails, turning pale
The landlord's at my window
And the burglar's at my door
I can't take it anymore
I guess I'll have to fly, it's worth a try
Someone's banging on the wall
But there's no party to recall
The singer of the shadows of his soul
So he's been told
Sorry I can't stop and talk now
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow
But I'll send you a tape from california

From the mirror of my mantle to the velvet on my bed
Trapped upon a stolen stage, a barrymore at best(
A g a g
My rhymes are all repeating, ballads growing blind
Words have turned to water, the women turned to wine

The draft board is debating if they'd like to take my life
I'd sooner take a wife and raise a child or two
Wouldn't you?
Peace has turned to poison
The flag has blown a fuse
Even courage is confused
And now all the brave are in the grave
Century is bending
Have a very happy ending
To the victor go the ashes of the spoil
Seeds in the soil
Sorry I can't stop and talk now
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow
But I'll send you a tape from california

The flower-power fuller brush man
Is farming out his friends
I stabbed him with my stem
And then I tapped his toes with my rose
He crawled around inside himself
Now he's crawling after me
Dropping acid in my tea
He wants to save his soul
Rock and roll
One of us must understand
It's not the drug that makes the man
Then a poster of a movie star walked by
He must have been high
Sorry I can't stop and talk now
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow
But I'll send you a tape from california

Half the world is crazy and the other half is scared
Maddonas do the minuet for the naked millionaires
The anarchists are rising while we're racing for the moon
It doesn't take a seer to see that the scene is coming soon

So who's that coming down the road
A sailor from the sea
He looks a lot like me
I'd know him anywhere
Had to stare
A fire around his fingertips
A song around his spine
He must have found his mind
He should be put away
Anyway
Surrounded by the slaughter
Now I'm boarding at the border
When the echoes of my ecstacy appear
Wish I was here
Sorry I can't stop and talk now
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow
But I'll send you a tape from california

the cbc (canadian broadcast corporation) did a series of radio stories on controversial musicians a few years back, the segment on phil ochs was both joyous and sad, a truly interesting character

Phil was one of my best guys from the protest days. I never did get to see or meet him.In the end his tortured soul had to have relief the one way he knew how.

My Life - Phil Ochs

My life was once a joy to me,
Never knowing, I was growing, everyday
My life was once a toy to me,
And I wound it and I found it ran away.
So I raced through the night
with a face at my feet, like a god I would write,
All the melodies were sweet, and the women were white.
It was easy to survive, my life was so alive.

My life was once a flag to me
And I waved it and behaved like I was told.
My life was once a drag to me
And I loudly, and I proudly, lost control
I was drawn by a dream
I was loved by a lie, every serf on the scene
Begged me to buy.
But I slipped through the scheme
So lucky to fail
My life was not for sale.

My life is now a myth to me
Like the drifter, with his laughter in the dawn.
My life is now a death to me
So I'll mold it and I'll hold it till I'm born
So I turned to the land
Where I'm so out of place
Throw a curse on the plan
In return for the grace
To know where I stand
Take everything I own
Take your tap from my phone
And leave my life alone
My life alone.

Love, Love Alone

Well it was love, love alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne,
It was love, love, love, love, love alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne

On the 10th of December we heard the talk
He gave his throne to the duke of York
It was love, love, love, love, love alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne

King Edward was noble, King Edward was great
It was love that caused him to abdicate
It was love, love, love, love, love alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne

He said he was sorry that his mammy would grieve
He cannot help it he would have to leave
It was love, love, love, love, love alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne

You can take his cow you can take his goat
Leave him with his Yachting boat
It was love, love, love, love, love alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne

You can take his money you can take his store
But give him that lady from Baltimore
It was love, love, love, love, love alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne

I don't know what miss Simpson got in her bone
That caused the king to leave his throne
It was love, love, love, love, love alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne

On the 10th of December 1936
The duke of Windsor went to get his kicks
It was love, love, love, love, love alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne
It was love, love, love, love, love alone

Jimmy Buffett - He Went To Paris

He went to Paris lookin' for answers
To questions that bothered him so
He was impressive, young and aggressive
Savin' the world on his own

But the warm summer breezes
The French wines and cheeses
Put his ambition at bay
The summers and winters
Scattered like splinters
And four or five years slipped away

Then he went to England, played the piano
And married an actress named Kim
They had a fine life, she was a good wife
And bore him a young son named Jim

And all of the answers and all of the questions
Locked in his attic one day
'Cause he liked the quiet clean country livin'
And twenty more years slipped away

Well the war took his baby, the bombs killed his lady
And left him with only one eye
His body was battered, his whole world was shattered
And all he could do was just cry

While the tears were a-fallin' he was recallin'
Answers he never found
So he hopped on a freighter, skidded the ocean
And left England without a sound

Now he lives in the islands, fishes the pilin's
And drinks his Green Label each day
Writing his memoirs, losin' his hearin'
But he don't care what most people say

Through eighty-six years of perpetual motion
If he likes you he'll smile and he'll say
"Jimmy, some of it's magic, some of it's tragic
But I had a good life all the way"

And he went to Paris lookin' for answers
To questions that bothered him so

One of my favorite ballad writers, been 30 years since the last album.


THE BALLAD OF SPIDER JOHN-WILLIS ALAN RAMSEY

Spider John is my name, friends
I'm in between freights, and I sure would be obliged
If I could share your company.
I'm on my way to nowhere; I been runnin' from my past,
Runnin' from the things I used to be.


Now I know my words sound strange to you
But if you'll wait till my song is sung and my story's told
You might come to understand
Why I'm old and bent and devil spent, and a-runnin' out of time
When not long ago I held a royal flush in my hand.

Chorus:
Oh, I was a supermarket fool; I was a motorbank stool pigeon,
Robbin' my own time.
I thought I'd lost my blues, yes, I thought I'd paid my dues
And I thought I'd found a life to suit my style.
And I was Spider John, the robberman
Long, tall, and handsome,
Yes, I was Spider John with a loaded hand
Takin' ransom.

And then one day I met Diamond Lil
And she was as sweet a thing, I declare, as the summer wind
Had ever blown my way.
Lil she had no idea of my illustrious occupation,
She thought I was a saint and not a sinner gone astray

Spider he loved his Lily so much
He could not confess his sins, for he knew if he did
The lady would surely take her leave.
But you know that the word got around, and Lily left town
And he never saw her again,
Tossin' and turnin' and causin' his heart to grieve.

Chorus

And that is all my story.
It's been these thirty years since I took the road
To find my precious jewel one.
Now if you see my Lily, won't you give her my regards,
Tell her old Spider got tangled in the black web that he spun
You can tell her that Spider got tangled in the black web that he spun.

Return Of The Grevious Angel

Won't you scratch my itch sweet Annie Rich
and welcome me back to town
Come out on your porch or I'll step into your parlor
and I'll show you how it all went down
Out with the truckers and the kickers and the cowboy angels
and a good saloon in every single town
Oh, and I remember something you once told me
and I'll be damned if it did not come true
Twenty thousand roads I went down, down, down
and they all lead me straight back home to you
`Cause I headed west to grow up with the country
Across those prairies with the waves of grain
And I saw my devil,
and I saw my deep blue sea
And I thought about a calico bonnet from
Cheyenne to Tennessee
We flew straight across that river bridge,
last night at half past two
The switchman wave his lantern goodbye
and so long as we went rolling through
Billboards and truckstops pass by the grievous angel
And now I know just what I have to do
And the man on the radio won't leave me alone
He wants to take my money for something
that I've never been shown
And I saw my devil,
and I saw my deep blue sea
And I thought about a calico bonnet from
Cheyenne to Tennessee
The news I could bring I met up with the king
On his head an amphetamine crown
He talked about unbuckling that old Bible belt
And lighted out for some desert town
Out with the truckers and the kickers and the cowboy angels
And a good saloon in every single town
Oh, but I remembered something you once told me
and I'll be damned if it did not come true
Twenty thousand roads I went down, down, down
and they all lead me straight back home to you
Twenty thousand roads I went down, down, down
And they all lead me straight back home to you

Tokyo Storm Warning
The sky fell over cheap Korean monster-movie scenery
And spilled into the reservoir of the crushed capsule hotel
Between the Disney abattoir and the chemical refinery
And I knew I was in trouble but I thought I was in hell

So you look around the tiny room and you wonder where the hell you are
While the K.K.K. convention are all stranded in the bar
They wear hoods and carry shotguns in the main streets of Montgomery
But they're helpless here as babies 'cause they're only here on holiday

Chorus: What do we care if the world is a joke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
We'll give it a big kiss
We'll give it a poke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
Death wears a big hat 'cause he's a big bloke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
We're only living this instant

The black sand stuck beneath her feet in a warm Sorrento sunrise
A barefoot girl from Naples or was it a Barcelona hi-rise
Whistles out the tuneless theme song on a hundred cheap suggestions
And a million false seductions and all those eternal questions

Chorus

So they flew the Super-Constellation all the way from Rimini
And feasted them on fish and chips from a newspaper facsimile
Now dead Italian tourists bodies litter up the Broadway
Some people can't be told you know they have to learn the hard way

Holidays are dirt-cheap in the Costa del Malvinas
In the Hotel Argentina they can hardly tell between us
For Teresa is a waitress though she's now known as Juanita
In a tango bar in Stanley or in Puerto Margarita
She's the sweetest and the sauciest
The loveliest and the naughtiest
She's Miss Buenos Aires in a world of lacy lingerie

Chorus

Japanese God-Jesus robots telling teenage fortunes
For all we know and all we care they might as well be Martians
They say gold paint on the palace gates comes from the teeth of pensioners
They're so tired of shooting protest singers
That they hardly mention us
While fountains fill with second-hand perfume
And sodden trading stamps
They'll hang the bullies and the louts that dampen down the day

Chorus

We braved the cold November air and the undertaker's curses
Saying "Take me to the Folies Bergere and please don't spare the hearses"
For he always had a dream of that revolver in your purse
How you loved him 'til you hated him and made him cry for mercy
He said "Don't ever mention my name there or talk of all the nights you cried
We've always been like worlds apart now you're seeing two nightmares collide"

Chorus

God's Comic
I wish you'd known me when I was alive, I was
a funny feller
The crowd would hoot and holler for more
I wore a drunk's red nose for applause
Oh yes I was a comical priest
"With a joke for the flock and a hand up your
fleece"
Drooling the drink and the lipstick and
greasepaint
Down the cardboard front of my dirty dog-collar

Chorus:

Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead,
now I'm dead, now I'm dead
And I'm going on to meet my reward
I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was
scared
He might of never heard God's Comic

So there he was on a water-bed
Drinking a cola of a mystery brand
Reading an airport novelette, listening to
Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Requiem"
He said, before it had really begun, "I prefer
the one about my son"
"I've been wading through all this unbelievable
junk and wondering if I should have given
the world to the monkeys"

Chorus

I'm going to take a little trip down Paradise's
endless shores
They say that travel broadens the mind, till you
can't get your head out of doors

I'm sitting here on the top of the world
I hang around in the longest night
Until each beast has gone bed and then I say
"God bless" and turn out the light
While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe and
you beg and you promise
And you bargain and you plead
Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus
It's the big white beard I suppose
I'm going up to the pole, where you folks die of cold
I might be gone for a while if you need me

Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead,
now I'm dead, now I'm dead and you're all
going on to meet your reward

Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared?
Are you scared?
You might have never heard, but God's comic

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PASTURES OF PLENTY
(Woody Guthrie)

It's a mighty hard row that my poor hands have hoed
My poor feet have traveled a hot dusty road
Out of your Dust Bowl and Westward we rolled
And your deserts were hot and your mountains were cold

I worked in your orchards of peaches and prunes
I slept on the ground in the light of the moon
On the edge of the city you'll see us and then
We come with the dust and we go with the wind

California, Arizona, I harvest your crops
Well its North up to Oregon to gather your hops
Dig the beets from your ground, cut the grapes from your vine
To set on your table your light sparkling wine

Green pastures of plenty from dry desert ground
From the Grand Coulee Dam where the waters run down
Every state in the Union us migrants have been
We'll work in this fight and we'll fight till we win

It's always we rambled, that river and I
All along your green valley, I will work till I die
My land I'll defend with my life if need be
Cause my pastures of plenty must always be free

AMERICAN GIRL - Tom Petty
Well, she was an American girl,
Raised on promises
She couldn't help thinking that
there was a little more to life
Somewhere else
After all it was a great big world
With lots of places to run to
And if she had to die
Tryin', she
Had one little promise she was gonna keep
Oh yeah, alright,
Take it easy, baby
Make it last all night
She was an American girl.
Well, it was kind of cold that night,
She stood alone on the balcony
Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by,
Out on four forty one like
Waves crashing on the beach,
And for one desprate moment there
He crept back in her memory
God, it's so painful when something that's so close
Is still so far out of reach
Oh yeah, alright,
Take it easy, baby
Make it last all night
She was an American girl