Before The Beach

By: jimmy buffett
1971
Hardly seems a long time
Just a minute of the day
But 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

Chorus:
But 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 knowing what he's gonna find

Born in mississippi
Picking cotton as a child
Left soon for the city
Where he heard that life was wild
That was fifty years ago
When nothing's really strange
From a poor dirt farm to dirty streets
Is really not much change

Chorus:
And 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 knowing what he's gonna find

Go back to the country
No he really can't do that
Wasted years have left him
Nothing but an old straw hat
So he puts it on his head
And waves a last good-bye
No time left to turn around
And no time to ask why

Chorus:
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 knowing what he's gonna find
And this old world has left poor ace behind

By: jimmy buffett
1970
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
Came to see a friend who lived up here

Told me she had finished school
And then went on to college for a year
I asked if she had married
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 a 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
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

By: jimmy buffett
1970
Every day held a new surprise
I watched the hunger burning in my sister's eyes
The paste-board shack we called a home
Would haunt me in my dreams
'cause there's nothing soft about hard times
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
There's nothing soft about hard times

Chorus:
I had to go 'cause i could see
I wasn't meant for poverty
The family ties were broken soon
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
There's nothing soft about hard times

Chorus:
I had to go 'cause i could see
I wasn't meant for poverty
The family ties were broken soon
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
There's nothing soft about hard times

There's nothing soft about
No, no, no, no hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times
No, no, no, no those hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times
I'm going to tell you about the hard times
There's nothing soft about hard times
No, no, no, no hard times

By: jimmy buffett
1971
You go to fargo
We'll meet in chicago
Travelin' light and travelin' clean
In a nine wheel blue and white travelin' machine
And i'm gone i'm movin' on yes i'm gone

Chorus:
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 you're gone you're movin' on yes you're 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

Come away, runaway queen
On her way travelin' queen

By: jimmy buffett, buzz cason
1971
I have been out wandering
I have traveled far
One conclusion i have made
Is god don't own a car

He don't wear no fancy clothes
He'd rather take the bus
He would pay a tourist fare
So he could sit with us

He don't have no tamborine
Guitar or slide trombone
The music we make here on earth
The words they are his own

And when we finally reach his home
And walk among the stars
He'll join our band then we'll understand
Why god don't own a car

La, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la

By: jimmy buffett
1970
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
Didn't know i'd catch the changin' of the seasons
Winter dictates everything from frost to naked trees

Chorus:
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 shinin'
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

Chorus:
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
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
Tonight i'll call it mine
Tonight i'll call it mine
Tonight i'll call it mine
Tonight i'll call it mine

By: jimmy buffett, buzz cason
1971
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

Chorus:
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

Chorus:
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

Chorus:
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've got to bend a little no matter which side you're on
Or soon you'll be gone

Seems i've been fightin' it all along
I've been a fightin' and a fightin'
Got to bend a little no matter which side you're on
It's a long and and dirty battle
It seems i've been fightin' it all along
I've been a tearin' and a pullin'
Got a bend a little no matter which side you're on
Yes i know cause
It seems i've been fightin' it all along
I've been a punchin' and a gougin'
And it seems no matter which side you're on
I've been a tearin' and a rippin' and
It seems i've been fightin' it all along
It don't matter 'cause you know you
Got a bend a little no matter which side you're on
You got to bend a little backwards
Cause it seems i've been fightin' it all along
Cause it seems i've been fightin'...
You got to bend a little no matter which side you're on

By: jimmy buffett, buzz cason
1993
It's been a little fever and maybe bucky beaver
Who made me pull the lever and leave once again
We chose just not to marry but go ahead and carry
All of our earthly goods and go to live out in the woods

Midnight on the mountain and you watch the clouds roll by
Country air's appealin' but there's more than meets the eye
Meets the eye...

Moonlight on the cabin it's too damn cold to sleep
Your head turns from my pillow so i can't see you weep
See you weep...sarah sleep

Stoned alone together least the city streets have drains
Standing here ass high up in the rain longin' for boston
Once again...

Sarah's cold and hungry and the baby's due any day
Stuck up in high country and it don't thaw out 'til may
Here we'll stay...

Mountain fever's on me and tonight the truck broke down
Doctor in the valley but we can't get in to town
He don't come 'round...

Sarah cried for boston and her mother late last night
I reassured her everything was tight but i'm not sure that
It's all right...

Midnight on the mountain and you watch the clouds roll by
Country air's appealin' but there's more than meets the eye
Meets the eye...

By: jimmy buffett
1970
It's never been the same since you returned from dreamin'
With your nursery rhyme excuses your picture postcards gleamin'
Tellin' everyone who looks your way 'bout people and their sinnin'
While you left field verse is fallin' in proportion to your winnin'

And i can't be your hero today
I'm through with the simple games you play
It just may take some time for me to even up the score
But i can't be your soldier home from war

And there you sit shouting 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 to high to pay
A 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
And i can't be your hero today

By: jimmy buffett
1971
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 you nose and then come to say goodbye
And all along tell yourself i am wrong if i try
Crying sorry it's over
I'm not to blame
What a game
Death valley lives now i'm not even sure what really gives

By: jimmy buffett, buzz cason
1971
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

Chorus:
All we was doing' was a hangin' and little koochie was sangin'
Mama i'm guilty of a 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 southwest 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
It didn't have a tag ya'll

Chorus:
All we was doing' was a hangin' and little koochie was sangin'
Mama i'm guilty of a 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

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 a hangin' out

Chorus:
All we was doing' was a hangin' and little koochie kept sangin'
Mama i'm guilty of a 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

All we was doin' was a hangin' and little koochie kept sangin'
Mama i'm guilty of a hangin' out

-- spoken (dialogue):
"yeah, they moved up there about a month ago. fixed up that little cabin on the ridge. they really them long hairs? well, homer seen 'em. homer seen how long it was. still reckon i seen it.
A bunch of weirdos. one of them had a little instrument looked like a mandolin. why lord, they might freeze to death up there this winter. well. homer, turn that radio down."