buddy bolden '71 - the lyrics
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.