Arlo Guthrie

[fox69]

"Midnight Special"

"Midnight Special"


One day, one day, Sir
I was walking along
I heard that special
Singing a lonesome song

[Chorus:]
Oh, let the Midnight Special
Shine her light on me
Let the Midnight Special
Shine her ever lovin light on me

If you ever go to Houston
You know you better walk right
You know you better not stagger
You know you better not fight
Because the sheriff will just arrest you
You know he'll carry you down
And you can bet your bottom dollar
Oh Lord, you're penitentiary bound

[Chorus]

Yonder come little Rosie
How in the world do you know?
I can tell her by her apron
And the dress she wore
Umbrella on her shoulder
Piece of paper in her hand
Goes a marchin to the Captain
Says I want my man

[Chorus]

Now here comes jumpin' Judy
I'll tell you how I know
You know, Judy brought jumpin'
To the whole wide world
She brought it in the morning
Just about the break of day
You know, if I ever get to jumpin'
Oh Lord, I'll up and jump away.

[Chorus 2x]

 

[fox69]

"Miss The Mississippi And You"

"Miss The Mississippi And You"



I'm growing tired of the big city lights
Tired of the glamour and tired of the sights
In all my dreams I am roaming once more
Back to my home on the old river shore

I am sad and weary far away from home
Miss the Mississippi and you dear
Days are dark and dreary everywhere I roam
Miss the Mississippi and you

Roaming the wide world over
Always along and blue, so blue
Nothing seems to cheer me under heaven's dome
Miss the Mississippi and you

Memories are bringing happy days of yore
Miss the Mississippi and you
Mocking birds are singing 'round the cabin door
Miss the Mississippi and you

Roamin the wide world over
Always alone and blue
Longing form my homeland, muddy water shore
Miss the Mississippi and you

 

[fox69]

"Moon Song"

"Moon Song"



Beneath this balcony of stars
Beyond the searchlight stage where we've become
The stuff of time amid the waves
Whose nets are cast along the shore when day is done

As the seabird flies above
My songs are sung to those I've come to love
The petals strung into the leis
The flowering of days I've just begun

A second chance to grasp a dance
Beneath the last rays setting of the sun
Tears along the trail of sand
Footprints in the water lead me back to who I am

When gods and goddesses decreed
The mountains raised up from beneath the seas
The sound of sovereign thrones
Above the hand tied bureaucrat who moans

This crazy love amazes me
As I just gaze into your eyes
The liquid sun is split upon the sea
I want to be where I can see the moon arise

A second chance to grasp a dance
Before the moment fades to summarize
Tears along the trail of sand
Footprints in the water lead me back to who I am

Along the lonely stretch of sand
Reduced to just a woman and a man
Bathed in the lunar light
The likes of which I might just understand

Among the myths I know are real
The goddess disguised as herself revealed
I sang her song out loud
She sat herself beside me in the crowd

A second chance to grasp a dance
Into the moment that she would allow
Tears along the trail of sand
Footprints in the water lead me back to who I am

 

[fox69]

"Mooses Come Walking"

"Mooses Come Walking"



Mooses come walking over the hill
Mooses come walking, they rarely stand still
When mooses come walking they go where they will
When mooses come walking over the hill

Mooses look into your window at night
They look to the left and they look to the right
The mooses are smiling, they think it's a zoo
And that's why the mooses like looking at you

So, if you see mooses while lying in bed
It's best to just stay there pretending you're dead
The mooses will leave and you'll get the thrill
Of seeing the mooses go over the hill

 

[fox69]

"Mother The Queen Of My Heart"

"Mother The Queen Of My Heart"



I had a home down in Texas
Down where the bluebonnets grew
I had the kindest old mother
How happy we were, just we two
Then one day the angels called her
Said they, we'd all have to pay
She called me close to her bedside
These last few words to say
Son, don't start drinkin' and gamblin'
Promise you'll always go straight
Ten years have passed since that parting
That promise I broke by mistake
I started in gambling for pastime
At last I was just like them all
I bet my clothes and my money
Not dreaming that I'd ever fall
One night I bet all my money
Nothing was left to be seen
And all that I needed to beat them
Was one card, and that was the queen
The cards were dealt all round the table
Each one took a card in the draw
And I drew the one that would beat them
I turned it and here's what I saw
I saw my mother's picture
And somehow she seemed to say
"Son, you have broken your promise"
So I tossed the cards all away
The winnings I gave to the newsboy
I knew I was wrong from the start
And I'll never forget my promise
To my mother, the queen of my heart

 

[fox69]

"My Dolly"

"My Dolly"



I put my dolly's dress on
And she looks like this
I put my dolly's pants on
And she looks like this
I put my dolly's hat on
And she looks like this

 

[fox69]

"My Front Pages"

"My Front Pages"


I remember now the time you left
You thought to say farewell
But for how long you would be gone
There was no way to tell
You just set out upon your road
It caused you lots of grief
And took you many places that
You came to, for to leave

[CHORUS:]
Alone for years you sailed around
At last your ship come in
Well, charge admission on her deck
Or sail her out again

Among the people that you met
Are some you'll see again
With perfumed flowers in your hands
You stood there in the rain
They set the stage for anything
And everyone was game
You came alone and now at home
They stop and ask your name

[CHORUS]

You'd like to see your friends again
The ones left on the road
And ramble 'round from town to town
And tell me what's been told
And sing the song you sang before
You sat before the king
And fate alone will guide you on
And give you words to sing

[CHORUS]

 

[fox69]

"My Love"

"My Love"



My love, you're like the wind on the run
I never know where you are coming from
I wasn't easily won

My love, I saw you first long ago
I didn't think then, now I know
How long it took love to grow

Oh babe, I long to hold you at night
We two together are so right
You make the darkness so bright

My love, we've had one hell of a time
And we've got over our crying
And we've come out of this fine

Because when two loves grow old
There can be no denying
That their love may soon grow colder
Yet that's when we started trying

Oh babe, this love we have must be for real
We've overcome, now it's sealed
I know it's something we feel

My love, you're like the wind on the run
I didn't know where you were coming from
I wasn't easily won

 

[fox69]

"Ninety Mile Wind"

"Ninety Mile Wind"




Tonight is a night I'll walk in the wind
And listen to stuff I can write
The radio says a ninety mile wind
Will whip old New York town tonight.

Well I did walk and the wind did come
And I got to see who was the toughest
New York town or the high blowing wind
And I found out New York was the roughest.

This town has stood up in the face of things
Lots worse than a ninety mile wind
It's not bad storms I'm afraid of today
But the greed that our leaders walk in.

I'll walk along the boardwalk rail
And feel and hear this ninety mile gale
I can hear the ocean mourn and groan
And I wonder about ships lost out in this storm

So come on wind and blow out your brains
Blow like a cyclone across the flat plains
This is just an echo of our world wide storm
That's ripping away our balls and our chains.

Blow you little hurricane blow blow blow
I can see the Ferris Wheel and the parachute jump
And the men and women in overalls holding Coney Island's rides down
and I sometimes wonder what we do between blows
That is half as much fun as Coney Island or New York town
In a ninety or a hundred miles an hour storm.

And I remember that nature fights against all of man
And that man fights against all of nature
And that everything bites and fights every other thing
And that hurricanes do blow
And will blow
Some harder than others

 

[fox69]

"Norman Always Knew"

"Norman Always Knew"



I've been from Maine to Texas
I've searched from coast to coast
For the country on the cover
Of the Saturday Evening Post
On every road I traveled
In all the places I passed through
I saw the faces of America
That Norman always knew

There's so much that we owe this man
With a pipe in his mouth and a brush in his hand
His pictures made us understand
What Norman always knew
No matter how the world may change
These words sing out like an old refrain
"Deep inside we're all the same"
Norman always knew

The young girl at the mirror
The boy with the fishing pole
The family all together
The young man leaving home
The wonder of young lovers
The old folks love still true
The special feelings that we share
Norman always knew

There's so much that we owe this man
With a pipe in his mouth and a brush in his hand
His pictures made us understand
What Norman always knew
No matter how the world may change
These words sing out like an old refrain
"Deep inside we're all the same"
Norman always knew

"Deep inside we're all the same"
Norman Rockwell knew