Judy Collins

[fox69]

"Big Sur"

"Big Sur"


I know this stretch of road, I’ve been here often
The ocean rolls as far as you can see
The rocky coast is misty in the sunlight
Seagulls flying low are flying free

Their wings are like my memories and desires
Spreading out to carry me along
And I remember everything that mattered
The times when I was weak instead of strong

Today the hills are restless with desire
They shudder, shaking all their blossoms free
The scent of dusty pines and Eucalyptus
Remind me of the time when I was me

I loved you like the sunlight on the ocean
Loved you like the seagulls in their flights
Loved you like the stars that shine in heaven
Loved you through the days and through the nights

I left you and the rocky coast behind me
Found a way to live without a heart
For I had left it throbbing in your keeping
And grew another, praying it would start

I hear the saints still pray along the ocean
I see the padres walking in the dawn
The bells of Capistrano ring to call them
To pray for us and sing their ancient song

Please pray for me you padres of the ocean
Pray I find my heart among the waves
For freedom’s left one panting for the bondage
And you can see the light beyond the grave

I loved you like the sunlight on the ocean
Loved you like the seagulls in their flights
Loved you like the stars that shine in heaven
Loved you thru the days and through the nights

I know this stretch of road, I’ve been here often
The ocean rolls as far as you can see
The rocky coast is misty in the sunlight
Seagulls flying low are flying free

 

[fox69]

"Bird On The Wire"

"Bird On The Wire"


Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Like a worm on a hook,
like a knight from some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee.
If I, if I have been unkind,
I hope that you can just let it go by.
If I, if I have been untrue
I hope you know it was never to you.

Like a baby, stillborn,
like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me.
But I swear by this song
and by all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee.
I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch,
he said to me, "You must not ask for so much."
And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door,
she cried to me, "Hey, why not ask for more?"

Oh like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.

 

[fox69]

"Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair"

"Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair"


Black, black, black is the color of my true love's hair
His lips are like some rosey fair
The finest face and the neatest hands
I love the ground where on he stands

I love my love and well he knows
I love the grass where on he goes
If he on earth no more I did see
My life will quickly fade away.

I'll climb up the mountain for to mourn and weep
For satisfied, I'll never sleep
I'll write to you in a few little lines
I'll suffer death ten thousand times

The winter is past and the leaves are green
The time is gone that we have seen
But still I long for the day to come
When you and I will be as one.

Black, black, black is the color of my true love's hair
His lips are like the rosey fair
The finest face and the neatest hands
I love the ground where on he stands

Black, black, black is the color of my true love's hair

 

[fox69]

"Blackbird"
(originally by The Beatles)

"Blackbird"
(originally by The Beatles)



Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

 

[fox69]

"Blowin' In The Wind"

"Blowin' In The Wind"


How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

 

[fox69]

"Blue Raincoat"

"Blue Raincoat"


It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.
I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.
Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?
Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene
And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.
Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake

She sends her regards.
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.
If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.
Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.
And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear

 

[fox69]

"Bob Dylan's Dream"

"Bob Dylan's Dream"


While riding on a train goin' west
I fell asleep for to take my rest
I dreamed a dream that made me sad
Concerning myself and the first few friends I've had

With half-damp eyes I stared to the room
Where my friends and I spent many an afternoon
Where we together weathered many a storm
Laughin' and singin' till the early hours of the morn

By the old wooden stove where our hats were hung
Our words were told and our songs were sung
Where we longed for nothin' and were quite satisfied
Talkin' and jokin' about the wicked world outside

With haunted hearts through the heat and the cold
We never thought we could ever get old
We thought we could sit forever in fun
But our chances really were a million to one

As easy as it was to tell black from white
It was all that easy to tell wrong from right
And our choices were few but the thought never hit
That the one road we traveled would ever shatter and split

Now many a year has passed and gone
Many a gamble has been lost and won
And many a road taken by many a friend
And each one I've never seen again

Oh, I wish, I wish, I wish in vain
That we could sit simply in that room again
Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat
I'd give it all gladly if our lives could be like that

 

[fox69]

"Bold Fenian Men"

"Bold Fenian Men"


Twas down by the glenside I spied an old woman
She was pluckin' young nettles and she scarce saw me comin'
I listened a while to the song she was hummin'
Glory O Glory O to our bold Fenian men

'Tis sixteen long years since I saw the moon beamin'
On strong manly forms and their eyes were not gleamin'
I see them all now, sure in all my daydreamin'
Glory O Glory O to our bold Fenian men

Some died on the hillside, some died with a stranger
And wise men have judged that their cause was a failure
They fought for their freedom and they never feared danger
Glory O Glory O to our bold Fenian men

I passed on my way, thanks to God that I met her
Be life long or short, sure I'll never forget her
There may have been brave men but they'll never be better
Glory O Glory O to our bold Fenian men

 

[fox69]

"Bonnie Boy Is Young"

"Bonnie Boy Is Young"


The trees they grow tall, the grass is growing green;
Many a cold and winter night that I alone have been.
It is a cold and cruel night when I must lie alone,
The Bonny Boy is young, but he is growing.

Oh! father, dear father I think you done me wrong
To go and get me married to one who is so young.
For he is only sixteen years and I am twenty-one.
The bonny boy is young but he's growing.

Oh! daughter, dear daughter, I did not do you wrong
For I have married you to a rich man's son
And he shall be a match for thee when I am dead and gone.
He is young, but he is daily growing.

Oh! father, dear father, I'll tell you what I'll do;
I'll send the boy to college for another year or two;
And all around his college cap, I'll bind a ribbon blue,
For to let the ladies know that he's married.

A year it went by and I passed the college wall
And saw the young collegians a-playing at the ball;
Amidst them was my own true love, the fairest of them all,
He was young but he was daily growing.

At the age of sixteen he was a married man,
And at the age of seventeen he was the father of a son,
At the age of eighteen, his grave had all grown green;
And the death put an end to his growing.

I'll make my love a shroud of ornamental brown;
And whilst I am a making it, the tears they will run down;
For once I had my own love, now he's lying low,
And I'll nurse his bonny boy while he's growing.

 

[fox69]

"Bonnie Ship The Diamond"

"Bonnie Ship The Diamond"


The Diamond is a ship my boys, for Greenland she is bound
And the quay it is all garnished with bonny lassies 'round
The captain gives the order to sail the ocean wide
Where the sun it never sets my lads, no darkness dims the tide

So cheer up my lads let your hearts never fail
While the bonnie ship, the Diamond goes fishin' for the whale

Along the quay at Peterhead, the lassies stand around
With their shawls about their heads and salt tears runnin' down
I'll never weep my bonny lad though I'm left behind
For there's not a rose on Greenland's ice to make you change your mind

So cheer up my lads let your hearts never fail
While the bonnie ship, the Diamond goes fishin' for the whale

Here's a health to the resolution likewise the Eliza Swan
A health to the Battle of Montrose and the Diamond ship of fame
They wear the trousers of the white the jackets of the blue
When they return to Peterhead they'll find that we've been true

So cheer up my lads let your hearts never fail
While the bonnie ship, the Diamond goes fishin' for the whale

It'll be bright both day and night when the Greenland lads come home
With a ship that's full of oil my lads and money to their name
They'll make the cradles for to rock and the blankets for to tear
And every lass in Peterhead sing hush-a-bye my dear

So cheer up my lads let your hearts never fail
While the bonnie ship, the Diamond goes fishin' for the whale