Music World
 
Find Artists:
 
 
 
Russian versionSwitch to Russian 
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson


Background information
Birth name Jaime Royal Robertson
Born July 5, 1943
Born place Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre(s) Rock
Years active 1960—present
Label(s) Capitol Records
Warner Bros. Records
Geffen Records
Associated acts Bob Dylan
The Band
Ronnie Hawkins
John Hammond, Jr.
Website Website



Music World  →  Lyrics  →  R  →  Robbie Robertson  →  Albums  →  Storyville

Robbie Robertson Album


Storyville (1991)
1991
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
. . .


You gone lost in the crowd
The waves of people in Chinatown
Can't get behind this mystery
Do you believe everything you see?

Just a shadow in the streetlight
Just a shadow on the wall
A silhouette face in the darkness
I've been waiting for your call

We'll go marching in the night parade
We'll be marching in the night parade

I combed the streets like cloak and dagger
I put the word out on the waterfront
We were living hard, living fast
Outrunning ghosts from the past

Just a shadow in the moonlight
Just a shadow, shadow on the wall
A silhouette, the kiss of death
Did somebody take the fall?

We'll go marching in the night parade
We'll be marching in the night parade

Oh Mary, Mary, Mary
I'm knocking on your door
Mary, Mary sanctuary can't see you no more
From out of the past a stranger came
And carried you away
I stood on the corner the scene of the crime
And I could hear her say

We'll be marching in the night parade
We'll be marching, marching in the night parade

We'll go marching, marching on the, in the night parade
We'll go marching, marching in the night parade
In the night parade

Are we all living in a street opera?
Are we just living in a street opera?

Oh we'll be marching, oh oh in the night parade
Oh Lord, we'll be marching, marching out in the night parade
In the night parade

Walking the night beat the rhythm of the street
Moving to the heartbeat of the city, the city
Walking the night beat the rhythm of the street
Moving to the heartbeat of the city, the city
Way downtown
Moving to the heartbeat of the city

We'll be marching in the night parade
We'll be marching in the night parade
We'll be marching in the night parade

. . .


The sun was going down over Echo Park
Wet raven hair glowing in the dark
And that's when the fever would rise

And Lord, what a look in her eyes
From the moment that she blows out the light
We'd be lost in the forever night

Hold back the dawn, hold back the dawn
Won't you raise up your hand
And hold back the dawn?

I dreamt if I could lay you upon this bed of straw
And we may break the rules, but we don't break the law
Come across but the river's too wide

I come across but the river's too high
And over by the fountain where we meet
I will lay silver roses at your feet

Hold back the dawn, hold back the dawn
Won't you raise up your hand
And hold back the dawn, come on?

Now I have seen a painting, old and hanging in a frame
And that painting was of you, now how can you explain
From another place in time, done many years ago

Why I'm haunted by this vision, guess we'll never know
And then she turned and whispered in my ear
Can you feel my heartbeat?

Hold back the dawn, hold back the dawn
Won't you raise up your hand
And hold back the dawn?

Come on, let the light go on, let the light go on
Won't you raise, won't you raise up?
Won't you raise up your hand and hold back the dawn?

Hold back the dawn, won't you raise up your hand
And hold back the dawn?
Let the night go on and on, and on

[Incomprehensible]

. . .


Hide in the bayou under the gun
Been to the house of the rising sun
Come down here trying to make a connection
Must have a bad sense of direction

Go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back, go back to your woods)
Go back, go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back to your woods)

Carry a torch and an old stiletto
The sound of thunder all over the ghetto
One-eyed jacks and king with the axe
Come from the wrong side of the tracks

Go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back, go back to your woods)
Go back, go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back to your woods)

When the night goes down on Storyville
If the women don't get you, the music will
Catch a thrill

You come down here in a four piece suit
Pork pie hat and the alligator boots
Keep jerking rabbits outta your hat
Now can you pull a disappearing act

Go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back, go back to your woods)
Go back, go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back to your woods)

When the night goes down on Storyville
If the women don't get you, the music will
Catch on a thrill

Go back, go back, go back to your woods
(Back to your woods)
Go back, go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back)
(Back to your woods)

Go back, go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back)
Go back, go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back)
Go back, go back to your woods
(Back to your woods)

Go back, go back, go back to your woods
(Go back, go back, go back to your woods)
Go back, go back to your woods
(Back to your woods)

[Incomprehensible]
Child, while we're going downtown all turning 'round
Before we came into this world we came from a far off land
And now we are here to tell the story

(But he won't bow down on a [Incomprehensible])
([Incomprehensible] comin')
They'll be coming from way back, way back
They got fire on a bayou
(Back to your)

[Incomprehensible], here they come
[Incomprehensible]
Here they come, here they come
[Incomprehensible], here they come
(Go back to your woods)

. . .


Soap box preacher standing on a corner
And all the people they would gather round
You speak of faith with a blaze of glory
But those that fear, they wanna knock you down

Nobody knows where you live
Where do you go in the naked night?
All of the prophets, they come before you
They can hear your lonesome cry

When you're out there in the night all alone
When you're staring in the light at the end of the road

In those proud shoes, coming on up the alley
In those proud shoes, walks all over the sky
Then he tipped his hat just like Don Quixote
And said, "Don't let the rapture pass you by"

Heard a bugle blowing in the misty morning
What a haunting sound over Times Square
Heard of the ghost of 52nd Street
Looked out the door but no one was there

Out in the cold Harlem rain
I went searching for this minstrel man
Played me a song to ease the pain
With the Salvation Army Band

When you're out there on the dark all alone
When you're sleeping in the park at the end of the road

In those proud shoes, coming on up the alley
In those proud shoes, walks all over the sky
Then he tipped his hat just like Don Quixote
And said, "Don't let the rapture pass you by"

In the neon wilderness and the asphalt jungle
He carries his cross of passion
Through the wreckage and the rumble

In those proud shoes, coming on up the alley
In those proud shoes, walks all over the sky
Then he tipped his hat just like Don Quixote
And said, "Don't let the rapture, don't let the rapture pass you by
Don't let it pass you by
Ooh, don't let it pass you by"

. . .


In this dusty little railroad town
Smack in the heart of the bible belt
Where nothing ever changes
While nothing remains the same
When first I saw the raven
Lean against the wind
I said who's the girl
With the tattoo on her skin
I followed her home
She lives down by the water
My friend Teddy told me
She's the Frenchman's daughter

On this day of reckoning
I'm riding shotgun with you
Tangled twisted strands of love
Hanging from above

I'm burnin for you
Burnin for you
We were first time lovers
In a secret rendezvous
Burnin, burnin
Burnin for you

When I come knocking on her front door
The neighbour said she don't live there no more
Well she moved from the country
Down to the city
Where the scene was dark
And the street was gritty
In the hustle and bustle and all the commotion
She got addicted to the locomotion

On this day of reckoning
By the old wooden bridge
I wait for you
Tangled twisted strands of love
Hanging from above

I'm burnin for you
Burnin for you
We were first time lovers
In a secret rendezvous
Burnin, burnin
Burnin for you

I remember the smell of the burning leaves
And we were making love
She was like a young Georgia O'Keefe
From another time
In an old abandoned railroad shack
On should never go
Where anything can happen
When the zephyr blows

On this day of reckoning
I'm calling to you
Tangled twisted strands of love
Hanging from above

I'm burnin for you
Burnin for you
We were first time lovers
In a secret rendezvous
Burnin, burnin
Burnin for you

The phone rings she said
I can't tell you where I'm calling from
Cause my papa's on the lam
For something shady that he's done
There hangs a tale of love
For the first time
For the first time

. . .


There's gonna be a change of season
Indian summer look around and it's gone
Why you wanna save the best for last
We grow up so slowly and grow old so fast

We don't talk about forever
We just catch it while we can
And if I grab on to the moment
Don't let it slip away out of my hand

What about now
Forget about tomorrow
It's too far away
What about now
Close your eyes
Don't talk of yesterday
It's too far away, too far away
What about now

I'm coming out of the shadows
I'm getting of of this one way street
Blue memories they just gather dust
Leave them in the rain they turn into rust

Did you see the march to freedom
Did you ever see savannah moon
All the people walking in a line
Said to the man, is it my time?

What about now
Forget about tomorrow
It's too far away
What about now
Close your eyes
Don't talk of yesterday
It's too far away, too far away
What about now

In the walk of a lifetime
When you know it's the right time
I can't wait until the ship comes in
I can't wait starting all over again
The errors of a wise man
Make the rules for a fool

. . .


I've seen my people standing on the shore
I've seen the big chief there standing on the shore
I ask my mama, "What they're crying for?"

I saw a black cloud hanging in the sky
I saw a big black cloud hanging in the sky
And I ask my papa, "When will it roll by?"

Oh, we're standing on the edge of the world
Oh, oh we're standing on the edge of the world, oh

Come on brother, we're gonna shake this town
Come on sister, we're gonna shake this town
Come on children, we're gonna shake this town

Can't draw no water no more from the drinking well
Can't grow no corn no more no, out here on my land
We're at the mercy by the government man
And then I followed you, we did pray

How can you promise me, come what may
Where you gonna turn to on a judgment day

Oh, we're standing on the edge of the world
Oh, oh we're standing on the edge of the world, oh

Come on brother, we're gonna shake this town
Come on sister, we're gonna shake this town
Come on children, we're gonna shake this town

Come on brother, we're gonna shake this town
Come on sister, we're gonna shake this town
Well, come on children, we're gonna shake this town

Oh, oh, we're standing on the edge of the world
Oh, oh we're standing on the edge of the world

That's the story, that's the story
Small town life, small town life
And that's the story and that's the story
Of the life, of the life

And that's the story and that's the story
Small town life, small town life
That's the story

We're gonna shake this town
Small town life, small town life

. . .


I tried to reach you
On Valentine's Day
But how can I reach you
When you're so far away

Don't make me a victim
Don't make me the clown
With my arms reaching out
And my head hanging down

We can't go on
Touching the flame
Breakin the rules
Of the game

I bring you this cross
I carved out of wood
I'm just trying to tell you
That I'd change if I could

Grew up on the west side
Never even been to the east side
Don't know what they do with their lives
Over there over there

We can't go on
Hiding the pain
Breakin the rules
Of the game

We can't go on
Living in shame
Breakin the rules
Of the game

. . .


When you grow up on blue highways
And that's what you call home
All the people would stop and stare
At this old orphan of the road

In the beginning they did not believe me
But they believe me now
Tell my mama and tell my papa
I wish they could see me now

I'm coming back
For the resurrection, for the resurrection
I'm coming back
For the resurrection, for the resurrection

You're an outcast in a land of strangers
And that's a cardinal sin
Make a break for the outside world
And they won't let you in

If you get lost out on Coney Island
Tell all my friends hello
That's where I learned the rules of the game
They taught me all I know

I'm coming back
For the resurrection, for the resurrection
I'm coming back
For the resurrection, for the resurrection

You were drowning in a sea of laughter
Tears were in your eyes
When you found out what you were after
I could see your spirit rise

I'm coming back
For the resurrection, for the resurrection
I'm coming back
For the resurrection, for the resurrection

Are we, are we, are we coming back?
For the resurrection, for the resurrection, yeah
Coming back

. . .


When I got back to my hometown
I saw the ghosts of yesterday
And my Godmother bless her soul

She still lives down this way
Remember, when I was just a kid
And she would tell a story

Of the rainbow
Rainbow

I come to you with an empty heart
It's locked and I've lost the key
Now she was old and almost blind
But she sees more than you or me

With her cane pointed towards the sky
She said, I'll know if you've heard
The silence between the words

Of the rainbow
Rainbow
No one knows where the rainbow goes

Walk down the long road
Your back against the wind
Hence you can lose yourself again
I've been down the old road

But that was long ago
I want you to walk with me
When the rains come again
And shine this light over you

Rainbow
That's the sign of the rainbow
Rainbow

Walk on down the hard road
That's buried in your soul
And you can feel the light within
Go upon the mountain

That's painted in the sky
I want you to ride with me
When the rains come again
And I will carry you home

Walkin' to the rainbow
The Halo of the sun
And you will dance the song of light
I could see forever

High upon the hill
I want you to walk with me
When the rains come again
And shine this light over you

Rainbow
Rainbow

. . .


blog comments powered by Disqus



© 2011 Music World. All rights reserved.