Old Friends

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.

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

Who will love a little sparrow?
Who's traveled far and cries for rest?
"not i," said the oak tree,
"i won't share my branches with
No sparrow's nest,
And my blanket of leaves won't warm
Her cold breast."

Who will love a little sparrow
And who will speak a kindly word?
"not i," said the swan,
"the entire idea is utterly absurd,
I'd be laughed at and scorned if the
Other swans heard."

Who will take pity in his heart,
And who will feed a starving sparrow?
"not i," said the golden wheat,
"i would if i could but i cannot i know,
I need all my grain to prosper and grow."

Who will love a little sparrow?
Will no one write her eulogy?
"i will," said the earth,
"for all i've created returns unto me,
From dust were ye made and dust ye shall be."

(d. graham, 1965)

(instrumental)

Why don't we stop fooling ourselves?
The game is over,
Over,
Over.

No good times, no bad times,
There's no times at all,
Just the new york times,
Sitting on the windowsill
Near the flowers.

We might as well be apart.
It hardly matters,
We sleep separately.

And drop a smile passing in the hall
But there's no laughs left
'cause we laughed them all.
And we laughed them all
In a very short time.

Time
Is tapping on my forehead,
Hanging from my mirror,
Rattling the teacups,
And i wonder,
How long can i delay?
We're just a habit
Like saccharin.

And i'm habitually feelin' kinda blue.

But each time i try on
The thought of leaving you,
I stop...
I stop and think it over

So long, frank lloyd wright.
I can't believe your song is gone so soon.
I barely learned the tune
So soon
So soon.

I'll remember frank lloyd wright.
All of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.

Chorus
Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.
When i run dry
I stop awhile and think of you

So long, frank lloyd wright
All of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
The teacher's lookin' over
So i got to whisper way down low
To say, "who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, let's meet
After school at three."

1. she said, "hey, babe, but there is one thing more
My school is over at half past four
Maybe when we're older then we can date
O - oh, let's wait!"

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
The teacher's lookin' over
So i got to whisper way down low
To say, "who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, let's meet
After school at three."

2. she said, "hey, babe, i gotta lot to do,
It takes me hours till my homework's thru,
Someday we'll go steady, so don't you fret.
O - oh, not yet!"

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
The teacher's lookin' over
So i got to whisper way down low
To say, "who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, let's meet
After school at three."

3. then she turned around to me
With that gleam in her eye
She said, "i'm sorry if i passed you by,
I'm gonna skip my homework
Gonna cut my class,
Bug out of here real fast."

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
Now we're going steady,
Hear the words that i want you to know
Well it's "who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, you're mine,
I knew it all the time."
Who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, hah, you're mine

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.

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?"

Old friends, old friends,
Sat on their parkbench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes of the old friends

Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settles like dust on the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today,
Sharing a parkbench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy

Old friends, memory brushes the same years,
Silently sharing the same fears

Bad news, bad news!
I heard you're packing to leave!
I come arunning right over;
I just couldn't believe it,
I just couldn't believe it.

Oh, baby, baby
You must be out of your mind.
Do you know what you're kicking away?
We've got a groovy thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovy thing.

I never done you no wrong,
I never hit you when you're down,
I always gave you good loving,
I never ran around,
I never ran around.

Oh, baby, baby
You must be out of your mind.
Do you know what you're kicking away?
We've got a groovy thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovy thing.

There's something you ought to know
If you're fixing to go,
I can't make it without you;
No no no no, no, no, no, no,
No no no no, no, no, no.

Oh, baby, baby
You must be out of your mind.
Do you know what you're kicking away?
We've got a groovy thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovy thing.

We've got a groovy thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovy thing.

(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

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

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.

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.

are you going to scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
(a hill in the deep forest green)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
(tracing of sparrow on snow-crested brown)
Without no seams nor needle work,
(blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain)
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
(sleeps unaware of the clarion call)

Tell her to find me an acre of land,
(on the side of a hill a sprinkling of leaves)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
(washes the grave with silvery tears)
Between the salt water and the sea strand,
(a soldier cleans and polishes a gun)
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
(sleeps unaware of the clarion call)

Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather,
(war bellows blazing in scarlet battalions)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
(general order their soldiers to kill)
And gather it all in a bunch of heather,
(and to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)
Then she'll be a true love of mine.

Are you going to scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

He was my brother
Five years older than i
He was my brother
Twenty-three years old the day he died

Freedom writer
They cursed my brother to his face
Go home outsider
This town's gonna be your buryin' place

He was singin' on his knees
An angry mob trailed along
They shot my brother dead
Because he hated what was wrong

He was my brother
Tears can't bring him back to me
He was my brother
And he died so his brothers could be free
He died so his brothers could be free

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit.
Blessed is the lamb whose blood flows.
Blessed are the sat upon, spat upon, ratted on,
O lord, why have you forsaken me?
I got no place to go,
I've walked around soho for the last night or so.
Ah, but it doesn't matter, no.

Blessed is the land and the kingdom.
Blessed is the man whose soul belongs to.
Blessed are the meth drinkers, pot sellers, illusion dwellers.
O lord, why have you forsaken me?
My words trickle down, like a wound
That i have no intention to heal.

Blessed are the stained glass, window pane glass.
Blessed is the church service makes me nervous
Blessed are the penny rookers, cheap hookers, groovy lookers.
O lord, why have you forsaken me?
I have tended my own garden
Much too long.

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.

You don't know that you love me
You don't know but i know that you do
You may think that you're above me, yeah
What you think isn't always true

Don't try to debate me,
You should know that i'm womanly wise
Still you try to manipulate me
You don't know where your interest lies

No, you don't know where your interest lies
You don't begin to comprehend

You're just a game i like to play
You may think that we're friends all right
But i won't let friendship get in my way,
No, i won't let friendship get in my way,

Indications indicate running the same riff will turn you around
Obviously you're going to blow it,
But you don't know it

You don't know that you love me
You don't know but i know that you do
You may think that you're above me, yeah
What you think isn't always true

Don't try to debate me,
You should know that i'm womanly wise
Still you try to manipulate me
You don't know where your interest lies

No, you don't know where your interest

"good god! don't jump!"
A boy sat on the ledge.
An old man who had fainted was revived.
And everyone agreed it would be a miracle indeed
If the boy survived.

"save the life of my child!"
Cried the desperate mother.

The woman from the supermarket
Ran to call the cops.
"he must be high on something," someone said.
Though it never made the new york times.
In the daily news, the caption read,
"save the life of my child!"
Cried the desperate mother.

A patrol car passing by
Halted to a stop.
Said officer macdougal in dismay:
"the force can't do a decent job
'cause the kids got no respect
For the law today (and blah blah blah)."

"save the life of my child!"
Cried the desperate mother.
"what's becoming of the children?"
People asking each other.

When darkness fell, excitement kissed the crowd
And made them wild
In an atmosphere of freaky holiday.
When the spotlight hit the boy,
The crowd began to cheer,
He flew away.

"oh, my grace, i got no hiding place."

I am just a poor boy and my story's seldom told
I've squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises
All lies and jest, still the man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest, hmmmm

When i left my home and my family, i was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station, runnin' scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know

Li la li...

Asking only workman's wages, i come lookin' for a job, but i get no offers
Just a comeon from the whores on 7th avenue
I do declare, there were times when i was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

Now the years are rolling by me, they are rockin' even me
I am older than i once was, and younger than i'll be, that's not unusual
No it isn't strange, after changes upon changes, we are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same

Li la li...

And i'm laying out my winter clothes, wishing i was gone, goin' home
Where the new york city winters aren't bleedin' me, leadin' me to go home

In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
'til he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, i am leaving, but the fighter still remains
Yes he still remains

Li la li...

"let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together"
"i've got some real estate here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and mrs. wagner pies
And we walked off to look for america

"kathy," i said as we boarded a greyhound in pittsburgh
"michigan seems like a dream to me now"
It took me four days to hitchhike from saginaw
I've gone to look for america

Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said "be careful his bowtie is really a camera"

"toss me a cigarette, i think there's one in my raincoat"
"we smoked the last one an hour ago"
So i looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field

"kathy, i'm lost," i said, though i knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and i don't know why
Counting the cars on the new jersey turnpike
They've all gone to look for america
All gone to look for america
All gone to look for america

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.

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.

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.

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