buddy bolden '71 - the lyrics

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        1)  buddy bolden

       
        Buddy Bolden, don't you cry no more
        we're goin' to take you over the line,
        we're goin' to carry you down,
        to the buryin' ground,
        we're goin' to get you there right on time.

        there'll be two white horses on a big black hearse
        you'll be dressed so fine
        in your box back coat and your Stetson hat
        the band will march behind.

        the Crescent City stompers
        goin' to point your way
        to Storyville in the sky.
        and the welcoming committee
        from Madame Lucille's
        will meet you by and by.

        we're goin' to take you into that big front room,
        with mirrors on every wall.
        oh, the bourbon and the kisses
        and the barrelhouse music
        will make you feel ten feet tall.

        and when the sun comes up   
        we're goin' to lay you down
        to rest in canopy bed,
        with riverboat dreams of Cajun queens
        still runnin' through your head.



        2)  black train

       
black train, runnin' on a silver rail
        carryin' me to hell
        a dark vein, pierced by a silver
        cracked and ruined the bell
        that once rang out so sweetly.

        a black shroud has fallen on my eyes,
        i been shoveled under sod.
        a dark cloud has covered up the skies,
        hid the face of god
        that once looked down so friendly.

        and though my body turn to ashes
        and my brain turns into glass
        there'll be no sad goodbyes
        when my time has come to move on,
        to move on,  to move on.

        it's a black night, you can cut it with a silver knife
        that has become my life.
        a dark moon is shinin' on my grave,
        a man no one could save
        from the death that lay a waiting.

        and there'll be no one to cry
        or mumble a foolish prayer,
        be no wife or child to moan my fate,
        be no friend who will pretend to care.

        it's too late.  it's too late.  it's too late.


        3) mr white's song


      
        there's a cabin on the hill
        over there across the valley
        where my love used to while away the hours
        walkin' barefoot through the fields
        where the butterflies were floating
        on a long legged sea of wild flowers.

        from my window tonight
        i can see the flickering light,
        just a spark in the dark among the trees
        where my true love waits for me
        in a big old rockin' chair,
        with a comforter spread out upon her knees.

        oh, the long summer days
        have not faded with my eyes,
        like the leaves beneath this pale winter sun.
        i still think of the flowers
        that you brought to the side of our bed,
        of the songs we used to sing when we were young.



        4) get on by me


       
you can get on by me.
        believe me,  i don't wanna stay here.
        i may be lyin' but you better not try me.
        you can't afford to spend another day here.

        i'd rather be layin' on a hillside
        soakin' up the mornin' sun
        than be standin' here with a gun in my hand
        waitin' for the man to come,
        but i just don't have the heart to run
        anymore.

       
you can get on by me.
        believe me,  i don't wanna stay here.
        get yourself together and don't you cry to me.
        there's no way that you can take me away from here.

        so gather up your family,
        take your bags and take your tent
        and start out across the desert,
        there's no one to know which way you went
        except maybe some other that was sent
        on along before you.

        you can get on by me.
        take a chance, you can make it to the river's edge
        please, please won't you get on by me.
        get a move on, you heard what i said.

        and if my fate is cast
        to stand on a rocky highway,
        to take some steps in my brother's shoes,
        and carry what he's thrown away,
        then i guess i'm not the first man that i know
        to come by this road.


        5)  country lullaby


       
a lazy moon drifts across the sky
        and you and i lie down
        in each others arms.
        the bed springs softly sigh,
        as i sing to you, my love
        a country lullaby.

        the sun sinks down in the western sea,
        and you and me walk home,
        we're talkin' hand in hand,
        our shoes are filled with sand,
        as i sing to you, my love,
        a country lullaby.

        the field mice have built a nest
        inside the old piano.
        and my big red Gibson leans against a tree.
        the rain has rusted the chains
        of the bicycles in the lane,
        and the weeds have grown so tall
        that no one bothers to call at all.

        the mists of night catch the starry light.
        everything shines so bright.
        we are wrapped in sleep.
        the honeysuckle creeps,
        as i sing to you, my love,
        a country lullaby.


       6)  jesse, jesse


       jesse, jesse, look at your garden,
       how sad in disrepair it lies.
       where sweet william
       and blue eyed mary
       once were laughing side by side

       and black eyed susan,
       she lay in the meadow'
       she never knew
       what brought her there.
       she was dreaming
       of young sweet william
       and spreading out  her golden hair.

       the quaker ladies
       were standing in the shadows
       and looking out where she reclined.
       they soon resolved
       to seek out the minister
       and to reveal her bold design.

       but the preacher jack
       he was hidden in the chapel.
       he saw them coming from afar.
       he took them high up
       on jacob's ladder,
       and pointing at a shooting star
       he said:

       the garden of eden lies before you
       and it was made for every child
       to enjoy it.
       now every beast is tame,
       and only you remain
       who are able
       to destroy it.

       jesse, jesse, look at your garden
       a bed where two young lovers lie
       and even as 
you sleep
       in your cradle
       they gaze into each other's eyes.    


       7) don't you worry darlin'  ** ( see below )


       don't you worry darlin'
       we'll soon be on our way
       across this great wide countryside
       to californ-i-a.
       we'll be rollin' down the open road
       before the break of dawn
       so don't you worry darlin'
       i promise it won't be long
       before i take you home.

       the hills of west virginia
       turn to red and gold and brown,
       and the trees all stand like angel choirs
       and sing their silent song,
       while a hundred thousand birds fly south
       on their own pathway in the sky.
       so don't your worry darlin'
       if they can find their way
       so can you and i.

       black clouds might still fill the sky
       when we roll into tennessee,
       the drivin' rain comin' down so hard
       on the windshield you can hardly see,
       and the headlamps search the darkness
       just to try and find the road,
       oh, but somewhere 'tween nashville and memphis
       the tennessee moonlight
       will show us which way to go.
       
       arkansas and texas,
       oklahoma, new mexico.
       day after day down each main street
       of each neon town we'll go.
       we'll eat at truck stop cafes
       if it's food you can hardly tell
       but late each night we'll make a stand
       at the roadside
       in a three dollar motel

       cottonfields turn to bottomlands
       and the grasslands are all gone by
       and the deserts, cut by red canyons
       turn to snowy mountainsides.
       till we're rollin' down that last long hillside
       that means the journey's over
       and we can hear the seawaves crashin'
       on that wild
       and rocky pacific shore.

       put your hat head,
       put your shoes on your feet,
       put a smile on your face,
       and throw your bag in the car.
       oh, i promise it won't be long
       before i take you home.
       we're gettin' ready to go, oh yeah
       i promise it won't be long
       before i take you home.
       

       8) arabian queen


       like an arabian queen
       you came to me
       across the desert.
       over the plains
       that are covered with grain
       you traveled
       to join the carnival.

       and though you were a queen,
       or easily might have been,
       you talked to me.
       though i was just a minstel
       in a pageant
       you loved me.
       you loved me.

       and you were so beautiful
       that i could see
       white doves
       following you.
       your feet
       never touched the ground,
       but i could see
       light
       slipping out
       from the folds
       of your gown.
       
       over the purple mountains
       and the turquoise rivers
       you came to me.
       like a prarie thistle
       you carried yourself
       so proud and free,
       and i loved you.
       i loved you,
       as far as i could see.

       i loved you.
      
       as far as i could see
       i loved you.

 
       9) city lights

       those bright city lights
       that i used to crave
       don't hold no charm for me no more.

       and where once i would get the urge
       to misbehave.
       i find my steps
       returning to your door.

       once i would party all night long.
       i'd be goin' strong till the break of dawn.
       i'd put a pint or two
       between me and the blues
       and i'd wear out my shoes
       walkin' the empty streets.

       once the prettiest thing in all the world
       was to follow the steps of a dancin' girl
       i would watch her twirl
       and my mind would wander
       won't you listen to the band?

       why worry?  
       why worry?
       the days flow into one another.
       why should we count them
       if we're happy?
       
        those bright city lights
        that i used to crave
        don't seem to call my name no more.

       
and where once i would get the urge
       to misbehave.
       i find my steps
       returning to your door.

       

       10)  after the rain

       
     
 after the rain,
       after the rain,

       the wind starts blowing all the leaves around,
       and the pine tree puffs her branches out.
       the robin is hoppin' from twig to twig,
       and he looks at me with his beady little eye,
       after the rain,
       after the rain.

       i look out my window, see the berry on the bush,
       the sparrow in the yard sings tweedly dee.
       the lemons on tree look shiny and new,
       and the twisted branches shout new green life.

       after the rain,  after the rain. after the rain
       the branches are scratchin' at the window pain.
       after the rain.

       after the rain, after the rain,
       the raindrops are singing on the telephone wire,
       and a rainbow is strung out across the sky.
       the sun comes out from behind a cloud,
       and i feel a lot better than i did before,

       after the rain, after the rain, after the rain,
       the jay comes out,  he looks all around,
       and the gray clouds blow away to snowy white,
       and the patches of blue start showin' through.

        after the rain, after the rain.
       
       
       11) my delight

       she's my delight in the morning.
       she's my delight late at night.
       she's my delight when rain clouds roll.
       and when the noontime sun shines bright.

       my delight when a chilly breeze
       still shakes the buds of may.
       my delight when a frosty wind
       blows novembers leaves away.

       my constant joy in every hour,
       i hold her like a pretty flower.
       she's flowing still like a gentle rill
       into every corner of my heart.
       
       

       **  7)  don't you worry darlin'
             alternate @ 1983  ( no recording exists,  music the same as original for all verses )

       deep in the new york winter
       when the nights were cold and long
       and my darlin' sad and lonely
       i would sing for her this song
       as we huddled close together
       prayed the lord our souls to keep
       i think back on the sweet refrain
       that carried us off to sleep.

       i'd sing:

       
don't you worry darlin'
       we'll soon be on our way
       across this great wide countryside
       to californ-i-a.
       we'll be rollin' down the open road
       before the break of dawn
       so don't you worry darlin'
       i promise it won't be long
       before i take you home.

       then one day it happened
       we packed up all we owned
       threw it in back of my chevrolet
       left everything we'd known
       searching for our great adventure
       that' d always seemed to call.
       it seemed like such a hopeful time.
       i still remember it all.

       we saw
the hills of west virginia
       turn to red and gold and brown,
       and the trees stood still as angel choirs
       and singing their silent song,
       while a hundred thousand birds flyin' south
       on their own pathway in the sky.
      i sang:  don't your worry darlin'
       if they can find their way
       so can you and i.

       black clouds still filled the sky
       when we rolled into tennessee,
       the drivin' rain comin' down so hard
       on the windshield we could hardly see,
       and the headlamps searched the darkness
       just to try and find the road,
       oh, but somewhere 'tween nashville and memphis
       the tennessee moonlight
       will showed us which way to go.
       
       arkansas and texas,
       oklahoma, new mexico.
       day after day down each main street
       of each neon town we'd go.
       we'd eat at truck stop cafes
       if it was food you could hardly tell
       and late each night we'd make a stand
       at the roadside
       in a three dollar motel

       cottonfields turned to bottomlands
       and the grasslands were all gone by
       and the deserts, cut by red canyons
       turned to snowy mountainsides.
       till we were rollin' down that last long hillside
       the journey almost over
       and we could hear the seawaves crashin'
       on that wild
       and rocky pacific shore.

       the were not so kind to us.
       they took us far apart.
       she lives in california now
       and sometimes in my heart,
       as the short new england summer
       turns too soon into fall,
       and i think of my sweet darlin'
       and the time when we had it all.

       and i was singin':  

       
don't you worry darlin'
       we'll soon be on our way
       across this great wide countryside
       to californ-i-a.
       we'll be rollin' down the open road
       before the break of dawn
       so don't you worry darlin'
       i promise it won't be long
       before i take you home.

       put your hat head,
       put your shoes on your feet,
       put a smile on your face,
       and throw your bag in the car.
       oh, i promise it won't be long
       before i take you home.
       we're gettin' ready to go, oh yeah
       i promise it won't be long
       before i take you home.