Gordon Lightfoot

[fox69]

"Hey You"

"Hey You"



Hey you upon this ship of fools
I have found you bending your own rules
Thank you I don't mind if I do
Dream a while of the lovin' that we knew
There was such a flaming time
I never will forget
It was all so easy then
This is my one regret

Hey you my angel in blue
Mother Nature saved her best for you
Green grow the lilacs on the wall
Heaven help them, catch them as they fall

Hey you angel in disguise
What is your angle what is your surprise
Hey you fever that is mine
What is your game plan what is your design

Reality brings mystery
And ne'er the twain shall meet
And all of my wild horses
Cannot pull you off your feet

Hey you angel on my mind
All around me til the end of time
Thank you I don't mind if I do
Dream a while of the lovin' that we knew

There was such a flaming time
I never will forget
It was all so easy then
This is my one regret

Hey you my angel in blue
I'm entangled tell me what to do
Green grow the lilacs on the wall
Heaven help them catch them as they fall

 

[fox69]

"Hi'way Songs"

"Hi'way Songs"



When I walk the hill so high
Around the town where I was born
New York seems so far away
Though I was there just yesterday
I have played on my guitar
In coffeehouses, halls, and bars
Everyone that I call friend
Knows they will not be forgot

Trains and planes and rented cars
Singers, saints, and other stars
I suspect them every one
They'll never change
It's too much fun

Just for now I'd like to rest
In the shade of a maple tree
To the blue Canadian sky
I'll say a prayer for the world out there

When I stand on my own sod
It feels so good to be home, by God
The winter wind has turned my head
But I always came up warm somehow

Bottles, beads, and cigarettes
And lovers that I ain't found yet
Picking with a friend till dawn
And singing all of those hi'way songs

Just for now I'd like to rest
In the shade of a maple tree
To the blue Canadian sky
I'll say a prayer for the world out there

When I walk the hill so high
Around the town where I was born
New York seems so far away
Though I was there just yesterday

I would travel all my life
If loneliness was not the price
While headin' north across that line's
The only time I'm flyin'

 

[fox69]

"High And Dry"

"High And Dry"



With ladylike devotion, she sails the bitter ocean,
if it wasn't for lovesick sailors,
there'd be nothin' left but flotsam.

Singin' why, me oh my, is there a better man than I?
I hope you find your way back home,
before you're lyin, high and dry,
I hope you find your way back home before you die.

Her sails below like bubbles,
while you sip your daily doubles,
if she wasn't so fond of the weather,
she might give the deckhands trouble,

Singin' why, me oh my, is there a better man than I?
I hope you find your way back home,
before you're lyin, high and dry,
I hope you find your way back home before you die.

One day when I grew older,
I found I could not hold her,
she took on a fine young skipper,
who soon ran her up on a boulder.

Singin' why, me oh my, is there a better man than I?
I hope you find your way back home,
before you're lyin, high and dry,
I hope you find your way back home before you die.

Now the pleasures of the harbor,
don't include a lady barber,
if it wasn't for Long John Silver,
all of us pirates would've been martyrs,

Singin' why, me oh my, is there a better man than I?
I hope you find your way back home,
before you're lyin, high and dry,
I hope you find your way back home,
before you're lyin, high and dry,
I hope you find your way back home before you die.

 

[fox69]

"Home From The Forest"

"Home From The Forest"



Oh the neon lights were flashin'
And the icy wind did blow
The water seeped into his shoes
And the drizzle turned to snow
His eyes were red, his hopes were dead
And the wine was runnin' low
And the old man came home
From the forest
His tears fell on the sidewalk
As he stumbled in the street
A dozen faces stopped to stare
But no one stopped to speak
For his castle was a hallway
And the bottle was his friend
And the old man stumbled in
From the forest

Up a dark and dingy staircase
The old man made his way
His ragged coat around him
As upon his cot he lay
And he wondered how it happened
That he ended up this way
Getting lost like a fool
In the forest

And as he lay there sleeping
A vision did appear
Upon his mantle shining
A face of one so dear
Who had loved him in the springtime
Of a long-forgotten year
When the wildflowers did bloom
In the forest

She touched his grizzled fingers
And she called him by his name
And then he heard the joyful sound
Of children at their games
In an old house on a hillside
In some forgotten town
Where the river runs down
From the forest

With a mighty roar the big jets soar
Above the canyon streets
And the con men con but life goes on
For the city never sleeps
And to an old forgotten soldier
The dawn will come no more
For the old man has come home
From the forest

 

[fox69]

"I Used To Be A Country Singer"

"I Used To Be A Country Singer"



I was sittin' in my hotel room, strummin' my old guitar
Not much to do when you're far away, playin' some smokey bar
I was feelin' a little empty and feelin' a little blue
When the maid came in and asked me if she could do my room
I put down my old guitar and she gave me a smile
She had a crusty voice and a drinker's look, but she had a friendly style
She dusted my room and made my bed and she talked of days gone by
She spoke of when she wooed the men; a tear came to her eye

And she said
I used to be a country singer
I could sing a mean Patsy Cline
My husband he could yodel like Wilf Carter
Kitty Wells was a real good friend of mine

She told me that her husband died and her son was overseas
I could tell by her eyes and her broken smile she was lonely just like me
She asked me if I'd listen to a tape of when she was young
She said I can't sing now I forgot the words and my voice is almost gone

And she said
I used to be a country singer
I could sing a mean Patsy Cline
My husband he could yodel like Wilf Carter
Kitty Wells was a real good friend of mine

Oh I cried inside but I couldn't tell if it was for her or for me
So I grabbed my axe and we sang a song in two part harmony
Ever since that day when I'm feelin' down and I can't find a happy tune
I just think if that maid and the feeling she gave, when she came to clean my room

And she said
I used to be a country singer
I could sing a mean Patsy Cline
My husband he could yodel like Wilf Carter
Kitty Wells was a real good friend of mine

And she said
I used to be a country singer
I could sing a mean Patsy Cline
My husband he could yodel like Wilf Carter
Kitty Wells was a real good friend of mine
Kitty Wells was a real good friend of mine

 

[fox69]

"I Want To Hear It From You"

"I Want To Hear It From You"



I want to hear it from you
I want to hear it from someone who knows how it is
All the second-hand words seem to get in my way
I want to hear it from you
I want to hear it again
I want to know if the soft scented touch of your lips
Must be taken away like a mother's first kiss to the life that she gives

I've got a right to get it straight from you
To give my life a different point of view
To find a way to keep from losing you

If you don't know what to say
To understand is my life and the question is why
You should cry in the night while your eyes look away
Every time that I speak and there's nothing to say

I want to hear it from you
I want to hear it from you
Let me know how you feel
You've got to make up your mind
Tell me where I can run
When my roof tumbles in

I want to hear it from you
I want to hear it from you

 

[fox69]

"I'd Do It Again"

"I'd Do It Again"



A one man band on a one night stand
As a one man band should be
The cried for more, he replied why sure
And he played one just for free
The sounds he laid down, the songs he played
Made the ladies all come to call
He was born in the back of a Seminole bus
On the road to Niagara Falls

I'd do it again, said I'd do it again
I'd do it again

The one man band philosophical man
Didn't lie when he said to us
I seen the high rollers come and go
It's the holy rollers I trust
The man said then he was sixteen when
He retired from the county school
A wee bit thin with a will to begin
He was known to be no man's fool

I'd do it again, I'd do it again
He said I'd do it again, I'd do it again
I'd do it again

The one man band was a mighty good man
Cause he played 'til the break of dawn
He ups and downs about four more rounds
And he stayed 'til the crowd went home
It seemed to me like he never could be
Like anything I'd ever seen before
When he stepped from the stage with his ax in his hand
And he run through the backstage door

I'd do it again, he said I'd do it again
I'd do it again

A one man band on a one night stand
As a one man band should be
They cried for more, he replied why sure
And he played one just for free

 

[fox69]

"I'd Rather Press On"

"I'd Rather Press On"



Is it my imagination or is it my iron pride
I wonder if it matters much if time is on my side
I'd rather press on, I don't wanna rest easy
Anywhere I stray, I will make it a brand new day
Anyway, that's all I've got to say
I'd rather be by the seaside, than be playin' a one night stand
I've been too wrapped up in my own dreams, I will change things if I can
I gotta press on, don't wanna rest easy
Wouldn't it feel fine to return to the women and the wine
And all of the sunshine that we knew

You will never know what blue is until you have played the game
Till you live life in solitare where no one knows your name
I'd rather press on, I don't want to rest easy
Have it anyway you will, I will be with you right up until
The spell is broken and all is well

If you'd rather be by the seashore, well I sure can understand
Are you too wrapped up in your own scene, I would change things if I can
I'd rather press on, don't wanna rest easy
Wouldn't it feel fine, but remembering the rhythm and the rhymes
And all of the good times makes me blue

Wouldn't it feel fine to return to the women and the wine
And all of the sunshine that we knew

 

[fox69]

"I'll Be Alright"

"I'll Be Alright"



I'll be alright I'll be alright if I don't have to smile
If I don't to face the morning sunrise for a while
I'll get along you know I'll take tomorrow with a grin
If I never have to think about her love again
And I won't mind if words are spoken
In empty love songs as long as I don't have to hear
I'll be alright if I don't have to face the world again
And if I never love again I'll be alright

Last night she gave the final word, she said her last goodbye
And disappeared forever in the world outside
One kiss and then she took her leave to go I know not where
Into the misty shadows of the midnight air

But I won't mind if words are spoken
In empty love songs as long as I don't have to hear
I'll be alright if I don't have to face the world again
And if I never love again I'll be alright
And if I never love again I'll be alright

 

[fox69]

"I'll Do Anything"

"I'll Do Anything"



Down in the warm dark part of my heart you stay
I've been on my own for so long as I stand here today
I'd never leave you
I'll do anything that you say
I've been around some walking on the down street
Feeling as low as the soles on the shoes of my feet
Taking dead aim on fortune and fame you might say
Playing guitar doesn't make you a star anyway
Many's the time I've wished that I were free
But my love for you was too deep for my eyes to see
I'd never leave you
I'll do anything that you say
Whenever the thought seems better off left alone
I think of you then in a way that is ten times as strong
Taking dead aim on fortune and fame you might say
Playing guitar doesn't make you a star anyway

I'd never leave you, I'll do anything that you say
Try to believe me, I'll do anything that you say
Though it might never grieve me, I'll do anything that you say
Please understand me, I'll do anything that you say