Collected Works

I was twenty-one years when i wrote this song.
I'm twenty-two now but i won't be for long
Time hurries on.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

Once my heart was filled with the love of a girl.
I held her close, but she faded in the night
Like a poem i meant to write.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

I threw a pebble in a brook
And watched the ripples run away
And they never made a sound.
And the leaves that are green turned to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

Hello, hello, hello, good-bye,
Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye,
That's all there is.
And the leaves that are green turned to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

The sun is burning in the sky
Strands of clouds go slowly drifting by
In the park the lazy breeze
Are joining in the flowers, among the trees
And the sun burns in the sky

Now the sun is in the west
Little kids go home to take their rest
And the couples in the park
Are holdin' hands and waitin' for the dark
And the sun is in the west

Now the sun is sinking low
Children playin' know it's time to go
High above a spot appears
A little blossom blooms and then draws near
And the sun is sinking low

Now the sun has come to earth
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death
Death comes in a blinding flash
Of hellish heat and leaves a smear of ash
And the sun has come to earth

Now the sun has disappeared
All is darkness, anger, pain and fear
Twisted, sightless wrecks of men
Go groping on their knees and cry in pain
And the sun has disappeared

(or how i was robert mcnamara'd into submission)

I been norman mailered, maxwell taylored.
I been john o'hara'd, mcnamara'd.
I been rolling stoned and beatled till i'm blind.
I been ayn randed, nearly branded
Communist, 'cause i'm left-handed.
That's the hand i use, well, never mind!

I been phil spectored, resurrected.
I been lou adlered, barry sadlered.
Well, i paid all the dues i want to pay.
And i learned the truth from lenny bruce,
And all my wealth won't buy me health,
So i smoke a pint of tea a day.

I knew a man, his brain was so small,
He couldn't think of nothing at all.
He's not the same as you and me.
He doesn't dig poetry. he's so unhip that
When you say dylan, he thinks you're talking about dylan thomas,
Whoever he was.
The man ain't got no culture,
But it's alright, ma,
Everybody must get stoned.

I been mick jaggered, silver daggered.
Andy warhol, won't you please come home?
I been mothered, fathered, aunt and uncled,
Been roy haleed and art garfunkeled.
I just discovered somebody's tapped my phone.

[art garfunkel recorded old people in various locations in new
York and los angeles over a
Period of several months. these voices were taken from those
Tapes.]

As we marched down to faneri-o
As we marched down to faneri-o
Our captain fell n love with a lady like a dove
And they called her name, pretty peggy-o
Come a runnin' down the stairs, pretty peggy-o
Come a runnin' down the stairs, pretty peggy-o
Come a runnin' down the stairs, combin' back
Your yellow hair
You're the prettiest little girl i've ever seen-o

In a carriage you will ride, pretty peggy-o
In a carriage you will ride, pretty peggy-o
In a carriage you will ride, with your true love by
Your side
As far as any maiden in the ar-e-o
What will your mother say, pretry peggy-o?
What will your mother say, pretty peggy-o?
What will your mother say, when she finds you've
Gone away
To places far and strange to faneri-o?

If ever i return, pretty peggy-o
If ever i return, pretty peggy-o
If ever i return, all your cities i will burn
Destroying all the ladies in the ar-e-o
Destroying all the ladies in the ar-e-o

(instrumental)

Wish i was a kellogg's cornflake
Floatin' in my bowl takin' movies,
Relaxin' awhile, livin' in style,
Talkin' to a raisin who 'casion'ly plays l.a.,
Casually glancing at his toupee.

Wish i was an english muffin
'bout to make the most out of a toaster.

I'd ease myself down,
Comin' up brown.

I prefer boysenberry
More than any ordinary jam.
I'm a "citizens for boysenberry jam" fan.

Ah, south california.

If i become a first lieutenant
Would you put my photo on your piano?
To maryjane--
Best wishes, martin.
(old roger draft-dodger
Leavin' by the basement door),
Everybody knows what he's
Tippy-toeing down there for

Why don't you write me
I'm out in the jungle
I'm hungry to hear you.
Send me a card,
I am waiting so hard
To be near you.
(la, la, la)
Why don't you write?
Something is wrong
And i know i got to be there.
Maybe i'm lost,
But i can't make the cost
Of the airfare.
Tell me why
Why
Why
Tell me why
Why
Why

Why don't you write me,
A letter would brighten
My loneliest evening.
Mail it today
If it's only to say
That you're leaving me.
(la, la, la)

Monday morning, sitting in the sun
Hoping and wishing for the mail to come.
Tuesday, never got a word,
Wednesday, thursday, ain't no sign,
Drank a half a bottle of iodine.
Friday, woe is me
Gonna hang my body from the highest tree.
Why don't you write me?

I can hear the soft breathing
Of the girl that i love,
As she lies here beside me
Asleep with the night,
And her hair, in a fine mist
Floats on my pillow,
Reflecting the glow
Of the winter moonlight.

She is soft, she is warm,
But my heart remains heavy,
And i watch as her breasts
Gently rise, gently fall,
For i know with the first light of dawn
I'll be leaving,
And tonight will be
All i have left to recall.

Oh, what have i done,
Why have i done it,
I've committed a crime,
I've broken the law.
For twenty-five dollars
And pieces of silver,
I held up and robbed
A hard liquor store.

My life seems unreal,
My crime an illusion,
A scene badly written
In which i must play.
Yet i know as i gaze
At my young love beside me,
The morning is just a few hours away.

When she goes, she's gone.
If she stays, she stays here.
The girl does what she wants to do.
She knows what she wants to do.
And i know i'm fakin' it,
I'm not really makin' it.

I'm such a dubious soul,
And a walk in the garden
Wears me down.
Tangled in the fallen vines,
Pickin' up the punch lines,
I've just been fakin' it,
Not really makin' it.

Is there any danger?
No, no, not really.
Just lean on me.
Takin' time to treat
Your friendly neighbors honestly.
I've just been fakin' it,
I'm not really makin' it.
This feeling of fakin' it--
I still haven't shaken it.

Prior to this lifetime
I surely was a tailor.
("good morning, mr. leitch.
Have you had a busy day?")
I own the tailor's face and hands.
I am the tailor's face and hands and
I know i'm fakin' it,
I'm not really makin' it.
This feeling of fakin' it--
I still haven't shaken it.

I'm sittin' in the railway station
Got a ticket for my destination
On a tour of one night stands
My suitcase and guitar in hand
And every stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one man band

Homeward bound
I wish i was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

Everyday's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines
And each town looks the same to me
The movies and the factories
And every stranger's face i see
Reminds me that i long to be

Homeward bound
I wish i was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

Tonight i'll sing my songs again
I'll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptyness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me

Homeward bound
I wish i was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me
Silently for me
Silently for me

I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my roof and walls.

And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To england where my heart lies.

My mind's distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you're asleep
And kiss you when you start your day.

And as a song i was writing is left undone
I don't know why i spend my time
Writing songs i can't believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme.

And so you see i have come to doubt
All that i once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth i know is you.

And as i watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that i am like the rain
There but for the grace of you go i.

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, i will dry them all;
I'm on your side. when times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you're down and out,
When you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.

Hello lamppost,
What cha knowing?
I've come to watch your flowers growing.
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo,
Feelin' groovy.

Got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
Life, i love you,
All is groovy.

I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail
Yes i would, if i could, i surely would
I'd rather be a hammer than a nail
Yes i would, if i only could, i surely would

Away, i'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone
A man gets tied up to the ground
He gives the world its saddest sound
Its saddest sound

I'd rather be a forest than a street
Yes i would, if i could, i surely would
I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet
Yes i would, if i only could, i surely would

What i dream i had:
Pressed in organdy;
Clothed in crinoline of smoky burgundy;
Softer than the rain.
I wandered empty streets
Down past the shop displays.
I heard cathedral bells
Tripping down the alley ways,
As i walked on.

And when you ran to me
Your cheeks flushed with the night.
We walked on frosted fields of juniper and lamplight,
I held your hand.
And when i awoke and felt you warm and near,
I kissed your honey hair with my grateful tears.
Oh i love you, girl.
Oh, i love you.

A winter's day
In a deep and dark december;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving i disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don't talk of love,
But i've heard the words before;
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If i never loved i never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

Last night i had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed i saw a mighty room
The room was filled with men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again

And when the papers all were signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands end bowed their heeds
And grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground

Last night i had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war

(felice and boudleaux bryant)

Chorus
Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think i'm gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like i could die
Bye bye my love, goodbye

There goes my baby
With someone new
She sure looks happy
I sure am blue
She was my baby
Till he stepped in
Goodbye to romance
That might have been

Chorus

I'm through with romance
I'm through with love
I'm through with counting
The stars above
And here's the reason
That i'm so free
My loving baby
Is through with me

Chorus

The night sets softly
With the hush of falling leaves,
Casting shivering shadows
On the houses through the trees,
And the light from a street lamp
Paints a pattern on my wall,
Like the pieces of a puzzle
Or a child's uneven scrawl.

Up a narrow flight of stairs
In a narrow little room,
As i lie upon my bed
In the early evening gloom.
Impaled on my wall
My eyes can dimly see
The pattern of my life
And the puzzle that is me.

From the moment of my birth
To the instant of my death,
There are patterns i must follow
Just as i must breathe each breath.
Like a rat in a maze
The path before me lies,
And the pattern never alters
Until the rat dies.

And the pattern still remains
On the wall where darkness fell,
And it's fitting that it should,
For in darkness i must dwell.
Like the color of my skin,
Or the day that i grow old,
My life is made of patterns
That can scarcely be controlled.

They say that richard cory owns one half of this whole town,
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.

But i work in his factory
And i curse the life i'm living
And i curse my poverty
And i wish that i could be,
Oh, i wish that i could be,
Oh, i wish that i could be
Richard cory.

The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:
Richard cory at the opera, richard cory at a show.
And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht!
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.

But i work in his factory
And i curse the life i'm living
And i curse my poverty
And i wish that i could be,
Oh, i wish that i could be,
Oh, i wish that i could be
Richard cory.

He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
"richard cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."

But i work in his factory
And i curse the life i'm living
And i curse my poverty
And i wish that i could be,
Oh, i wish that i could be,
Oh, i wish that i could be
Richard cory.

Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while i was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams i walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light i saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

"fools" said i,"you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that i might teach you,
Take my arms that i might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.

I can hear the soft breathing of the girl that i love,
As she lies here beside me asleep with the night.
Her hair in a fine mist floats on my pillow,
Reflecting the flow of the winter moonlight.

But i've got to creep down the alley way,
Fly down the highway,
Before they come to catch me i'll be gone.
Somewhere they can't find me.

Oh baby, you don't know what i've done,
I've committed a crime, i've broken the law.
While you were here sleeping and just dreaming of me,
I held up and robbed a liquor store.

But i've got to creep down the alley way,
Fly down the highway,
Before they come to catch me i'll be gone.
Somewhere they can't find me.

Oh my life seems unreal, my crime an illusion,
A scene badly written in which i must play.
And thought it puts me up tight to leave you,
I know it's not right to leave you,
When morning is just a few hours away.

But i've got to creep down the alley way,
Fly down the highway,
Before they come to catch me i'll be gone.
Somewhere they can't find me.

Someone told me
It's all happening at the zoo.

I do believe it,
I do believe it's true.

It's a light and tumble journey
From the east side to the park;
Just a fine and fancy ramble
To the zoo.

But you can take the crosstown bus
If it's raining or it's cold,
And the animals will love it
If you do.

Somethin' tells me
It's all happening at the zoo.

The monkeys stand for honesty,
Giraffes are insincere,
And the elephants are kindly but
They're dumb.
Orangutans are skeptical
Of changes in their cages,
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum.

Zebras are reactionaries,
Antelopes are missionaries,
Pigeons plot in secrecy,
And hamsters turn on frequently.
What a gas! you gotta come and see
At the zoo.

A most peculiar man (p. simon, 1965)

He was a most peculiar man.
That's what mrs. riordan said and she should know;
She lived upstairs from him
She said he was a most peculiar man.

He was a most peculiar man.
He lived all alone within a house,
Within a room, within himself,
A most peculiar man.

He had no friends, he seldom spoke
And no one in turn ever spoke to him,
'cause he wasn't friendly and he didn't care
And he wasn't like them.
Oh, no! he was a most peculiar man.

He died last saturday.
He turned on the gas and he went to sleep
With the windows closed so he'd never wake up
To his silent world and his tiny room;
And mrs. riordan says he has a brother somewhere
Who should be notified soon.
And all the people said, "what a shame that he's dead,
But wasn't he a most peculiar man?"

Time, time, time, see what's become of me
While i looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
But look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hear the salvation army band
Down by the riverside, it's bound to be a better ride
Than what you've got planned
Carry your cup in your hand
And look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hang on to your hopes, my friend
That's an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again
Look around, the grass is high
The fields are ripe, it's the springtime of my life

Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry
Won't you stop and remember me
At any convenient time
Funny how my memory slips while looking over manuscripts
Of unpublished rhyme
Drinking my vodka and lime

But look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Look around, leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground...

This is the early evening edition of the news.
The recent fight in the house of representatives was over the open housing
Section of the civil rights bill.
Brought traditional enemies together but it left the defenders of the
Measure without the votes of their strongest supporters.
President johnson originally proposed an outright ban covering discrimination
By everyone for every type of housing but it had no chance from the start
And everyone in congress knew it.
A compromise was painfully worked out in the house judiciary committee.
In los angeles today comedian lenny bruce died of what was believed to be an
Overdoes of narcotics.
Bruce was 42 years old.
Dr. martin luther king says he does not intend to cancel plans for an open
Housing march sunday into the chicago suburb of cicero.
Cook county sheriff richard ogleby asked king to call off the march and the
Police in cicero said they would ask the national guard to be called out
If it is held.
King, now in atlanta, georgia, plans to return to chicago tuesday.
In chicago richard speck, accused murderer of nine student nurses, was brought
Before a grand jury today for indictment.
The nurses were found stabbed an strangled in their chicago apartment.
In washington the atmosphere was tense today as a special subcommittee of the
House committee on un-american activities continued its probe into anti-
Viet nam war protests.
Demonstrators were forcibly evicted from the hearings when they began chanting
Anti-war slogans.
Former vice-president richard nixon says that unless there is a substantial
Increase in the present war effort in viet nam, the u.s. should look forward
To five more years of war.
In a speech before the convention of the veterans of foreign wars in new york,
Nixon also said opposition to the war in this country is the greatest single
Weapon working against the u.s.
That's the 7 o'clock edition of the news,
Goodnight.

Silent night
Holy night
All is calm
All is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.