Live At The Philharmonic

There are shadows on the sidewalks
Of the city streets at night,
And the alleyways and ugly things
Are hidden from the light.
And somewhere, son, my baby's
Gonna sell her soul again,
For a custom tailored lady-killer
They call sugar man.

I searched the backstreet barrooms,
And every cheap hotel,
Asking for my baby; they all knew her well.
Well, they said, "she's out there working
For the wages of her sin,
And if you want to find your baby, baby,
Look for sugar man."

Well, tonight i found her
On the sorry side of town
Lying cold upon the bed
Where she had laid her body down.
I picked up the needle that had fallen from her hand
And stuck it through the money she had made for sugar man.

There are shadows on the sidewalks
Of the city streets at night
And the alleyways and ugly things
Are hidden from the light.
But the sun's gonna shine tomorrow
On some dirty gargage cans,
And a custom tailored lady-killer
They called sugar man.

They said, "what do you think you would do
If she told you that she'd been untrue?"
I'd say, "i won't say i won't be sorry, no.
It sure was love while it lasted."

They said, "how will you feel deep inside
When the love you believed in has died?"
I ain't sayin' it won't hurt me
It sure was love while it lasted

I'll be livin off of the good times
That you've given me to face
I have had my share of the sunshine
I can stand a little rain.

So we don't give a damn what they say
We've go something they can't take away
'cause whatever comes tomorrow
It sure was love while it lasted

It sure was good while it lasted
It sure was love while it lasted.

Jesus was a capricorn
He ate organic food
He believed in love and peace
And never wore no shoes

Long hair, beard and sandles
And a funky bunch of friends
Reckon we'd just nail him up
If he came down again

Chorus:
'cause everybody's gotta have somebody to look down on
Who they can feel better than at any time they please
Someone doin' somethin' dirty decent folks can frown on
If you can't find nobody else, then help yourself to me

Eggheads cussing rednecks cussing
Hippies for their hair
Others laugh at straights who laugh at
Freaks who laugh at squares

Some folks hate the whites
Who hate the blacks who hate the klan
Most of us hate anything that
We don't understand

Chorus

See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans,
Wearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smile--
Once he had a future full of money, love, and dreams,
Which he spent like they was goin' outa style--
And he keeps right on a'changin' for the better or the worse,
Searchin' for a shrine he's never found--
Never knowin' if believin' is a blessin' or a curse,
Or if the goin' up was worth the comin' down--

Chorus:
He's a poet, he's a picker--
He's a prophet, he's a pusher--
He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned--
He's a walkin' contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction,
Takin' ev'ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home.

He has tasted good and evil in your bedrooms and your bars,
And he's traded in tomorrow for today--
Runnin' from his devils, lord, and reachin' for the stars,
And losin' all he's loved along the way--
But if this world keeps right on turnin' for the better or the worse,
And all he ever gets is older and around--
>from the rockin' of the cradle to the rollin' of the hearse,
The goin' up was worth the comin' down--

Chorus:
He's a poet, he's a picker--
He's a prophet, he's a pusher--
He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned--
He's a walkin' contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction,
Takin' ev'ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home.
There's a lotta wrong directions on that lonely way back home.

She's a little bit of the sunshine
Just before the rain
A little like this quiet night
Before the cold winds came
She's a little bit like the weather
I never know when she's gonna change
She's a part of my heart
And a whole lot of my pain

Chorus:
Whiskey, whiskey my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Milk of mercy please be kind
Drive this feeling from my mind

Don't you know, somehow her smile
Can make the day begin
She'd take away this mask of grey
And let the sun shine in
Now i find i've been blinded
By the cold and wintery wind
She disguised behind her eyes
Oh what a fool i've been

Chorus:
Whiskey, whiskey my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Milk of mercy please be kind
Drive this feeling from my mind

Chorus:
Whiskey, whiskey my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Milk of mercy please be kind
Drive this feeling from my mind

Busted flat in baton rouge, headin' for the trains,
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans.
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained,
Took us all the way to new orleans.
Took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
And was blowin' sad while bobby sang the blues,
With them windshield wipers slappin' time and
Bobby clappin' hands we finally sang up every song
That driver knew.

Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose,
And nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free,
Feelin' good was easy, lord, when bobby sang the blues,
And buddy, that was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my bobby mcgee.

From the coalmines of kentucky to the california sun,
Bobby shared the secrets of my soul,
Standin' right beside me through everythin' i done,
And every night she kept me from the cold.
The somewhere near salinas, lord, i let her slip away,
She was lookin' for the love i hope she'll find,
Well i'd trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday,
Holdin' bobby's body close to mine.

Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose,
And nothin' left was all she left to me,
Feelin' good was easy, lord, when bobby sang the blues,
And buddy, that was good enough for me.
Good enough for me and bobby mcgee.

Well i woke up sunday morning
With no way to hold my head, that didn't hurt
And the beer i had for breakfast
Wasn't bad so i had one more for dessert
Then i fumbled through my closet for my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt
It's the one i'm wearin'
And i shaved my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day

I'd smoked my brain the night before
Or i smoked so much the night before
With cigarettes and songs that i've been pickin'
My mouth was like an ashtray i'd been lickin'
But i lit my first and watched a small kid
Cussin' at a can that he was kicking
Then i crossed the empty street
And caught the sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken
And it took me back to somethin'
That i'd lost somehow somewhere along the way

Chorus:
On the sunday morning sidewalks
Wishing lord that i was stoned
'cause there is something in a sunday
That makes a body feel alone
And there's nothin' short of dyin'
Half as lonesome as the sound
On the sleepin' city side walks
Sunday mornin' comin' down


In the park i saw a daddy
With a laughing little girl who he was swingin'
And i stopped beside a sunday school
And listened to the song that they were singin'
Then i headed back for home and
Somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin'
And it echoed thru the canyon like
The disappearing dreams of yesterday.

Chorus:
On the sunday morning sidewalks
Wishing lord that i was stoned
'cause there is something in a sunday
That makes a body feel alone
And there's nothin' short of dyin'
Half as lonesome as the sound
On the sleepin' city side walks
Sunday mornin' comin' down.

Buddy, tip your bottle back
Climb aboard the bus
Join your brothers in the band

If you ain't bombed in burmingham
Then you ain't one of us
We don't really give a damn
London is a hundred miles a-waitin' where we're at
And a thousand years behind
Splitting from a sorry gig that left us feelin' flat
Out of sight and out of mind

Cruisin' through the countryside we'll never see again
Ain't it lonesome out tonight?
We've been on that road now since i can't remember when
Out of mind and out of sight

Buddy tip your bottle back and climb aboard the bus
Join your brothers in the band
If you ain't bombed in burmingham then you ain't one of us
We don't really give a damn

Yeah, i been ev'rywhere and i seen ev'rything there is
But i never saw the light
Scared to death of dyin' so i do my best to live
Out of mind and out of sight

Knowin' no one nowhere's gonna miss us when we're gone
Let's keep drinkin' 'til we're blind
Ev'rybody's sleepin' and i'm stuck inside a song
Outta sight and outta line

Someday when it's over and it's time to settle down
And we've left it all behind
We can sit and wonder how we ever got around
Out of sight and out of mind
Out of sight and out of mind

I have seen the morning burning golden on the mountain in the sky
Aching with the feeling of the freedom of an eagle when she flies
Turning on the world the way she smiled upon my soul as i lay dying
Healing as the colors in the sunshine and the shadows of her eyes

Waking in the morning to the feeling of her fingers on my skin
Wiping out the traces of the people and the places that i've been
Teaching me that yesterday was something that i never thought of trying
Talking of tomorrow and the money, love and time we had to spend
Loving her was easier than anything i'll ever do again

Coming close together with a feeling that i've never know before,in my
Time
She ain't ashamed to be a woman or afraid to be a friend
I don't know the answer to the easy way she opened every door in my mind
But dreaming was as easy as believing it was never gonna end
And loving her was easier than anything i'll ever do again