Arlo Guthrie Album

words and music by Arlo Guthrie

In the event of my demise
Be sure to include this statement
When you are bent on closing my eyes
Thinking about what my life meant

Alone on a hill back in '65
Things looked a lot like changing
Singing our songs that we harmonized
Dreaming of worlds rearranging

And I don't know why I'm singing tonight
Maybe it's time someone told you
Just because you say you've seen the light
Doesn't mean nobody sold you

I can remember all of your smiles
During the demonstrations
Taking on what seemed like the whole world
Igniting the hearts of our nations

And together we sang our victory songs
Though we were worlds apart
Every thing then has now passed away
Except for the love in my heart

Sitting at home on computerized beds
Tryine to come to conclusions
Seeing reflections from rose-colored heads
Ignoring the states of illusion

Drunk in a world of material wealth
No one can notice you falling
Fantastic flights once good tor your health
Now make you deaf to your calling

And all alone the prophet groans
With words as yet unseen
Who'll be awake when the master returns
Who will be lost in their dreams

So in the event of my demise
8e sure to include this statement
Only the words of love kept alive
Are worthy of not being wasted

words and music by Arlo Guthrie

There's trouble all around the world
Well, it looks that way to me
People don't know what to do
They don't know where they should be

But just one question still remains
To which we must respond
Two roads lead from where we are
Which side are you on

CHORUS:
Are you on, boys
Which side are you on
Which side are you on, boys
Which side are you on

Moses crossed the desert
With a band of weary men
For forty years they wandered through
The hot and burning sand

And Moses went and prayed alone
The weary vagabond
And lightning wrote these words in stone
Which side are you on

CHORUS

Jesus stumbling through the streets
On the road to Calvary
Nailed high to testify
With other local thieves

And as they hung there dying
One asked what lay beyond
That all depends the master said
Which side are you on

CHORUS

Some men work for little things
And some men work for more
Some men work for anything
And some don't work at all

And me mysef I'm satisfied
To sing for God's own son
And ask you what I ask myself
Which side are you on

Poor Adam alone in Eden
Taking off his shoes
Tired of running around all morning
From his animal interviews

He awoke with a hand on his brow
Asking, who are you
They spent the rest of their lives together
Making their debuts
Dressed in leaves and wearing blues

Some say one thing, some say two
Ain't much about it anyone can do
Keep on walking till my soles wear through
Wearing away my shoes

Evening comes and the sky turns red
Clouds of color cover up our heads
Ain't it something just to lie here in bed
Just me and you

Oh Mary, wrapped up in glory
What are you going to tell your groom
How's he going to feel on the day of your wedding
What will your friends assume

Oh, but Joseph and Mary were married
The angels carried the news
What the Lord has joined together
The world must not undo

There's a wedding down at the church this morning
Let's go wish them well
It's a beautiful day for getting married
I hope the weather lasts as well

It's been years since we've been married
I know we've paid some dues
Now ain't it something just to lie here together
Just me and you
Outlasting the blues

words and music by Arlo Guthrie

I've been keeping on the run
I've been traveling with the sun
I've been singing all my life and getting by
Got to keep up with what's goung on
In this place I've been so long
And I guess I'll just keep singing all my life

And it's so good to come home
To a woman all alone
Forgeting how hnd loneliness can be
She will take me from this world
Then she'll gently take the world away from me

l'll be coming home at night
While the kids are sleeping tight
She'll be lit by firelight and looking fine
And the kids jump out of bed
Hello Daddy, what did you get
Did you think of anything on down the line

She'll be talking with her smile
Saying, honey, wait awhile
The kids have missed you, soon they'll be asleep
She will take me from this world
Then she'll gently take the world away from me

Oh the prophets and the sages
And the wise men through the ages
All that's written down on pages from above
Just can't adequately describe
What I'm feeling here inside
It's just useless to be living without love

And I'll take her by her hand
Just a woman and a man
Without trying to understand what we should be
She will take me from this world
Then she'll gently take the world away from me

words and music by Arlo Guthrie

And for myself I have no regrets
That time has taken what it soon forgets
A gambler's paradise in short vignettes

These stolen moments from the hourglass
A burning candle while the night-time lasts
Upon my pillow where my dreams float past

And all my memories seem to come alive
I think of everyone who still survives
And those who haven't may yet still arrive

I want to take the time to let you know
I've had a hard time letting feelings show
And through it all I love you even so

A poet's pleasure is to hear in time
The painter pictures what he's left behind
I close my eyes and it all leaves my mind

I sit alone and hear the sparrow sing
No way of knowing what tommorow brings
I leave my solitude upon his wings

words and music by Arlo Guthrie

Every morning just as soon as it's light
Get out of bed and I'm feeling alright
Make me some coffee and I sit down alone
The rest of the day I'm on the telephone

CHORUS:
Hang up, hold on
You got a dime so you come on so strong
Save your money and let me be
Hang up the phone and quit bothering me

I got a phone in my bedroom and one in the barn
A phone in my car and one in the yard
A phone on my saddle for when I'm out on the range
A phone in my pocket for when I'm down at the grange

CHORUS

Now with devaluation all over the land
The whole wide world has got more money in their hand
They'll be calling me up from Peking and Nome
I'm going to rip out my telephone

words and music by Pete Seeger

Sailng down my golden river
Sun and water all my own
Yet I was never alone

Sun and water, old life givers
l'll have them where ere I roam
And I was not far from home

Sunlight glancing on the water
Life and death are all my own
Yet I was never alone

Life for all my sons and daughters
Golden sparkles in the foam
And I was not far from home

Sailing down this winding highway
Travelers from near and far
And I was never alone

Exploring all the little byways
Sighting all the distant stars
And I was not far from home

Sailing down my golden river
Sun and water all my own
Yet I was never alone

Sun and water, old life givers
l'll have them where ere I roam
And I was not far from home

Yet I was never alone
And I was not far from home

There's a tavern up on the roadside
I must be coming into town
The moon must be in Aries
'Cause the truck ain't slowing down
Pulled back on the throttle
I've been doing that all day
Looking ahead for a right-hand turn
To carry me away

There's times for understanding
It don't seem like one of those
The times are too demanding
When you're hanging by your nose
So why don't you just get on out of here
And leave me here to pray
That one of these mornings the sun's going to rise
Going to carry me away

Carry me over the highway
Carry me over the sky
Carry me over the lonliness
That I'm feeling here tonight

You know I'm feeling just like a riptide
I'm feeling a little scared
A twisted maze of old highways
Nobody has repaired
It ain't nothing that can't be handled
Like an actor in a play
Who becomes enraged, jumps from the stage
And gets a little carried away

Now all of your highways
Don't mean much to me no more
I've been all on all of your highway roads
Of that you can be sure
But I still get lost on all of them roads
Can't seem to find my way
I know there's one out there somewhere
To carry me away

Carry me over the highway
Carry me over the sky
Carry me over the lonliness
That I'm feeling here tonight

Carry me over the highway
Carry me over the sky
Carry me over the lonliness
That I'm feeling here tonight

words and music by Arlo Guthrie

There's a river running underground
That roll along the clay
That took my body when I laid it down
And carried it far away

It's too damned dark for you to see
So I did not protest
My soul shook free, you can't have me
But you may keep the rest

The waters weep, the sickles reap
My hands are cold with sweat
The eagle screams with frightened wings
The dust does not forget

There's a river running underground
That rolls along the clay
That tempts the sould to the ocean cold
To with the body lay

I remember when I met you
Underneath the evening sky
Now it seems I could forget you
Rescue me, I'm bound to die

All the promises we made there
With no words to understand
And though I've tried, I've come up empty
Heart of stone, drowning man

I'm going down for the third time
And I need a helping hand
The rooster crows and I'm sinking
Heart of stone, drowning man

Where are you, my dear companion
How much longer must you be
I'm all alone out on this ocean
When will you come and rescue me

It's too late for new beginnings
In this world I've left behind
There is nothing left worth keeping
Not a thing to change my mind

I'm going down for the third time
And I need a helping hand
The rooster crows and I'm sinking
Heart of stone, drowning man

How far down the road to glory
Must we go without a sign
Caught out on these stormy waters
How can you treat me so unkind

Did you know from the beginning
That I'd dig this lousy hole
Oh, don't leave me here abandoned
In this dark night of the soul

I'm going down for the third time
And I need a helping hand
The rooster crows and I'm sinking
Heart of stone, drowning man

I dream in the morning
That she brings me water
And I dream in evening
That she brings me wine
Just a poor man's daughter
From Puerto Penasco
Evangelina in old Mexico

There's a great hot desert
South of Mexicali
And if you don't have water
Then you better not go
Tequila won't get you
Across the desert
To Evangelina in old Mexico

And the fire I feel for the
Woman I love
Is driving me insane
Knowing she's waiting
And I just can't get there
Lord only knows that I've
Racked my brain
To try and find a way
To see that woman in old Mexico

I met a kind man
Who guarded the border
He said you don't have papers
But I'll let you go
I can tell that you love her
By the look in your eyes now
She's the rose of the desert
In old Mexico

And the fire I feel for the
Woman I love
Is driving me insane
Knowing she's waiting
And I just can't get there
Lord only knows that I've
Racked my brain
To try and find a way
To see tht woman in old Mexico

And I dream in the morning
That she brings me water
And I dream in the evening
That she brings me wine
Just a poor man's daughter
From Puerto Penasco
Evangelina in old Mexico

There's a great hot desert
South of Mexicali
And if you don't have water
Then you better not go
Tequila won't get you
Across the desert
To Evangelina in old Mexico

She's the rose of the desert
In old Mexico