N/A

Come gather 'round friends
And I'll tell you a tale
Of when the red iron pits ran plenty.
But the cardboard filled windows
And old men on the benches
Tell you now that the whole town is empty.

In the north end of town,
My own children are grown
But I was raised on the other.
In the wee hours of youth,
My mother took sick
And I was brought up by my brother.

The iron ore poured
As the years passed the door,
The drag lines an' the shovels they was a-humming.
'Til one day my brother
Failed to come home
The same as my father before him.

Well a long winter's wait,
>>From the window I watched.
him.

My friends they couldn't have been kinder.
And my schooling was cut
As I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner.

Oh the years passed again
And the givin' was good,
With the lunch bucket filled every season.
What with three babies born,
The work was cut down
To a half a day's shift with no reason.

Then the shaft was soon shut
And more work was cut,
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen.
'Til a man come to speak
And he said in one week
That number eleven was closin'.

They complained in the East,
They are paying too high.
They say that your ore ain't worth digging.
That it's much cheaper down
In the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothing.

So the mining gates locked
And the red iron rotted
And the room smelled heavy from drinking.
Where the sad, silent song
Made the hour twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinking.

I lived by the window
As he talked to himself,
This silence of tongues it was building.
Then one morning's wake,
The bed it was bare,
And I's left alone with three children.

The summer is gone,
The ground's turning cold,
The stores one by one they're a-foldin'.
My children will go
As soon as they grow.
Well, there ain't nothing here now to hold them.

more free lyrics

Come gather round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a changing

Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pens
And keep your eyes open, the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon, the wheel's still in spin
And there's no telling who that it's naming
Oh the loser will be later to win
For the times, they are a changing

Come senators, congressmen, please head the call
Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be her that has stalled
The battle outside ragging will soon shake your windows
And rattle your hall
For the times, they are a changing

Come mothers and fathers all over this land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughter are beyond your command
Your old role is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand
For the times they are a changing

The line, it is drawn, the curse, it is cast
The slow one will later be fast
And the present now will soon be the past
The order is rapidly fading
The first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a changing

more free lyrics

Once upon a time, you dressed so fine,
Threw the bums a dime, in your prime, didn't you?
People call, say "Beware, doll, you're bound to fall."
You thought they were all kiddin' you.

You used to laugh about Everybody that was hangin' out,
But now you don't talk so loud, Now you don't seem so proud,
About havin' to be scroungin' your next meal.

How does it feel? How does it feel.
To be on your own. With no direction home.
A complete unknown. Like a rollin' stone.

You've gone to the finest schools, alright, Miss Lovely,
But you know you only used to get juiced in it.
You never had to live out on the street,
But now you're gonna have to get used to it.
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulders a Siamese cat.
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal.

You never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you.
Never understood that it ain't no good.
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you.
You said you'd never compromise
With the Mystery Tramp but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And he says, "Do you want to make a deal?"

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're all drinkin', thinkin' that they've got it made.
Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts,
You'd better lift your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe.
You used to be so amused
At Napolean in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now he calls you you can't refuse
When you got nothin' you got nothin' to lose
Your invisible now you've got no secrets to conceal.

more free lyrics

"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.
Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

more free lyrics

Up on the withe varenda
She wears a nektie
and a panama het
Her passport shows a face
>>From another time and place
she looks nothin' like that
And all the remnats of her
recent past are scatterd in the wild wind
she walks across the marblefloor
where a voice from the gambling room is
cllin' her to come on in
she smiles
and walks the other way
as the last ship sails and the moon fades away
>from the black diamond bay

As the mornin' light break open
the greek comes down and he asks for
a robe and a pen that will write
,,pardon monsieur,, the desk clerk says
carrefully removes his fez
,,am I hearin' you rigth?,,
and as thje yellow fog is liftin'
the greek is quickly
headin' for the second floor
she passes him on the spiral staircase
thinkin' hes's the soviet ambassodor
she starts to speak but
he walks away
As the storm clouds rise and the palm branches way
on the black diamond bay

A soldier sits benaeth the fan
Doin' buissnes with a tiny man
who sells him a ring
Lighning strikes the lights blow out
the desk clerk wakes
and begins to shout
Can you see anything
Then the greek apears on the second floor
in his bare feet and a
robe around his neck
while a looser in the gambling room lights up a candle says
open up another deck
but the dealer says
Atendez vous s'il vous plait
as the rain beats down and the cranes fly away
>from the black diamond bay

the desk clerk heard the women laugh
as he looks around in the aftermath
and the soldier got tough
he tried to grab the womens hand
said her's a ring it cost a grand
she said
that ain't enough
then she ran upstairs to back her back
while a horse drawn taxi
waited at the curb
she passed the door that the greek had looked
where a hand writen sign read
do not disturbshe kocked upon it anyway
as the sun went down and the music did play
on the black diamond bay

I've got to talk to someone quick
but the greek said go away and he
kicked the chair to the floor
he hung there from the chandeliere
she cried:help there's a deanger near
please
open up the door
then the vulcano eruppted and the lava
flowed down
>from the moutain high above
the soldir and the tiny men were crouched
in the corner
thinkin of forbidden love
but the desk clerk said
it happens every day
as the stars fell down the fields burned away
>from the black diamond bay

as the island slowly sank
the looser finaly broke the bank
in the gambling room
the dealer said its too late now
you can take the money but I don't
know how
you'll spend it in the tomb
the tiny men bit the soldier ear
as the floor caved in and the
boiler in the basement blew
while she's out on the balcony
where a stranger tells her
my darling je vous aime beaucuop
she sheds a tear and beginns to pray
as the fire burns on and the smoke drifts away
>from the black diamond bay

I was sittin' home alone one night
in L.A.watchin' old cronkite
on the seven o'clock news
It seems there was a earthquake that
left nothin' like a panama hat
and a pair of old greek shoes
didn't seem like much was happenin'
so I turn it off and
went to grap one other beer
seems like evry time you turn around
there's another hard luck
story that you gonna hear
and there's realy nothin'
anyone can say
and I never did plan to go anyway
to black diamond bay

more free lyrics

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
I was layin' in bed
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
And I was standin' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through,
Tangled up in blue.

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But I used a little too much force.
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out West
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin' away
I heard her say over my shoulder,
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue,"
Tangled up in blue.

I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell.
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
Right outside of Delacroix.
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind,
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
Tangled up in blue.

She was workin' in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer,
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear.
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I's just about to do the same,
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, "Don't I know your name?"
I muttered somethin' underneath my breath,
She studied the lines on my face.
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
Tangled up in blue.

She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
"I thought you'd never say hello," she said
"You look like the silent type."
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
>>From the thirteenth century.
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
Tangled up in blue.

I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs,
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air.
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died.
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside.
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn,
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew,
Tangled up in blue.

So now I'm goin' back again,
I got to get to her somehow.
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now.
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter's wives.
Don't know how it all got started,
I don't know what they're doin' with their lives.
But me, I'm still on the road
Headin' for another joint
We always did feel the same,
We just saw it from a different point of view,
Tangled up in blue.

more free lyrics