Summertime Dream

Who are these ones who would lead us now
To the sound of a thousand guns
Who'd storm the gates of hell itself
To the tune of a single drum
Where are the girls of the neighborhood bars
Whose loves were lost at sea
In the hills of france and on german soil
From saigon to wounded knee
Who come from long lines of soldiers
Whose duty was fulfilled
In the words of a warriors will
And protocol
Where are the boys in their coats of blue
Who flew when their eyes were blind
Was god in town for the roman games
Was he there when the deals were signed
Who are the kings in their coats of mail
Who road by the cross to die
Did they all go down into worthiness
Is it wrong for a king to cry
And who are these ones who would have us now
Whose presence in concealed
Whose nature is revealed
In a time bomb

Last of all you old seadogs
Who travel after whale
You'd storm the gates of hell itself
For the taste of a mermaid's tail
Who come from long lines of skippers
Whose duty was fulfilled
In the words of a warrior's will
And protocol

I remember when best friends were jealous lovers
Lyin' warm asleep beneath the covers
Dreaming of belonging to each other
And so we tried, never too close
Never too near, dyin' in time
And so we cried but that is alright
We meant no one no harm
I remember when best friends were not mistaken
Long before that freedom was forsaken
Learnin' 'bout all the good things
In the world worth believin'
And so we tried, never too close
Never too near, dyin' in time
And so we cried but that is alright
We meant no one no harm

I remember when jealous lovers would stick together
When the days were warm and the nights more tender
When the bonds of truth were not made to measure
And so we tried, never too close
Never too near, dyin' in time
And so we cried but that is alright
We meant no one no harm
Try, try as you will
Following dreams never fulfilled
And so we cried but that is alright
We meant no one no harm

A one man band on a one night stand
As a one man band should be
The cried for more, he replied why sure
And he played one just for free
The sounds he laid down. the songs he played
Made the ladies all come to call
He was born in the back of a seminole bus
On the road to niagra falls
I'd do it again, i'd do it again
I'd do it again

The one man band philosophical man
Didn't lie when he said to us
I seen the high rollers come and go
It's the holy rollers i trust
The man said then he was sixteen when
He retired from the county school
A wee bit thin with a will to begin
He was known to be know man's fool

I'd do it again, i'd do it again
I'd do it again

The one man band was a mighty good man
Cause he played 'til the break of dawn
He ups and downs about four more rounds
And he stayed 'til the crowd went home
It seemed to me like he never could be
Like anything i'd ever seen before
When he stepped from the stage with his ax in his hand
And he run through the backstage door

I'd do it again, i'd do it again
I'd do it again

A one man band on a one night stand
As a one man band should be
They cried for more, he replied why sure
And he played one just for free

You think you had the last laugh
Now you know this can't be true
Even though the sun shines down upon you now
Sometimes you must feel blue
You make the best of each new day
You try not to be sad
Even though the sky falls down upon you
Call it midnight feelin' bad
When you wake up to the promise
Of your dream world comin' true
With one less friend to call on
Was it someone that i knew
Away you will go sailin'
In a race among the ruins
If you plan to face tomorrow
Do it soon

The road to love is littered
By the bones of other ones
Who by the magic of the moment
Were mysteriously undone
You try to understand it
But you never seem to find
Any kind of freedom comin' clean
Is just another state of mind

When you wake up to the promise
Of your dream world comin' true
With one less friend to call on
Was it someone that i knew
Away you will go sailin'
In a race among the ruins
If you plan to face tomorrow
Do it soon

So take the best of all that's left
You know this cannot last
Even though your mother was you maker
From her apron strings you pass
Just think about the fool
Who by his virtue can be found
In a most unusual situation
Playin' jester to the clown

When you wake up to the promise
Of your dream world comin' true
With one less friend to call on
Was it someone that i knew
Away you will go sailin'
In a race among the ruins
If you plan to face tomorrow
Do it soon

When you wake up to the promise
Of your dream world comin' true
With one less friend to call on
Was it someone that i knew
Away you will go sailin'
In a race among the ruins
If you plan to face tomorrow
Do it soon

The legend lives on from the chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'gitche gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of november turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the edmund fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of november came early.

The ship was the pride of the american side
Coming back from some mill in wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of november come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of november came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.
Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya.
At seven p.m. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it's been good t'know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the edmund fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of god goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they'd have made whitefish bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake huron rolls, superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below lake ontario
Takes in what lake erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of november remembered.

In a musty old hall in detroit they prayed,
In the maritime sailors' cathedral.
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the edmund fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'gitche gumee'.
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of november come early!