Tom Paxton

[fox69]

"Oh, Doctor, Doctor"

"Oh, Doctor, Doctor"


You told me the sunshine
Was bound to revive me
You told me the cool breeze
Was gonna bring me around
But something is breaking
And moving inside me
And something inside me
Is tearing me down
Oh, doctor, doctor
You didn't give me no warning
You didn't help me get ready
Now anybody can see
And I can't stand the pity
And the sorrowful glances
They all know my body
Is quitting on me
Oh, doctor, doctor
Don't let me just lie here
Don't let me just wait here
'Cause the waitin's too slow
Oh, doctor, doctor
Please show me some mercy
I'm tired of waiting
Please let me go
I want to open my window
I want to feel the sunshine
Listen to children
Go hurrying past
See the beautiful blackbird
Settle down in the chestnut
It's a beautiful sunset
And I hope it's my last
Oh, doctor, doctor
Don't let me just lie here
Don't let me just wait here
'Cause the waitin's too slow
Oh, doctor, doctor
Please show me some mercy
I'm tired of waiting
Please let me go
Oh, doctor, doctor
Don't let me just lie here
Don't let me just wait here
'Cause the waitin's too slow
Oh, doctor, doctor
Please show me some mercy
I'm tired of waiting
Please let me go

 

[fox69]

"On The Road From Srebrenica"

"On The Road From Srebrenica"


On the road from Srebrenica,
I saw a woman with two babies and one broken arm.
She could only carry one,
And one would have to stay behind to quickly die.
The gunmen shouted orders,
And the woman started moving down the road,
While the baby in the blanket,
Lying in the muddy ditch began to cry.

On the road, on the road from Srebrenica,
Blackbirds fly, blackbirds flying overhead,
Cry no mercy, on the road from Srebrenica,
Where there´s no one left alive to count the dead.

On the road from Srebrenica,
I saw the men all pulled aside and marched away.
While their women screamed in terror,
All the men went down the pathway to the trees.
The sound of guns was muffled by the forest,
But the shots went on and on,
While the soldiers pushed the women to keep moving,
And the rain began to freeze.

On the road, on the road from Srebrenica,
Blackbirds fly, blackbirds flying overhead,
Cry no mercy, on the road from Srebrenica,
Where there´s no one left alive to count the dead.

On the road from Srebrenica,
Trudged an old men who was bent and stooped and frail.
It seemed all hope was gone,
I thought he´d never make a mile, but I was wrong.
He seemed to have no spirit,
Till he passed the ditch and heard the baby cry.
Then he picked the baby up,
And in the swirling smoke and flames, he moved along.

On the road, on the road from Srebrenica,
Blackbirds fly, blackbirds flying overhead,
Cry no mercy, on the road from Srebrenica,
Where there´s no one left alive to count the dead.

 

[fox69]

"One Million Lawyers"

"One Million Lawyers"


Humankind has survived some disasters, I'm sure.
Like locusts and flash floods and flu.
There's never a moment when we've been secure
From the ills that the flesh is heir to.
If it isn't a war, it's some gruesome disease.
If it isn't disease, then it's war.
But there's worse still to come, and I'm asking you please
How the world's gonna take any more?

[Chorus:]
In ten years we're gonna have one million lawyers,
One million lawyers, one million lawyers.
In ten years we're gonna have one million lawyers.
How much can a poor nation stand?

The world shook with dread of Attila the Hun
As he conquered with fire and steel,
And Genghis and Kubla and all of the Kahns
Ground a groaning world under the heel.
Disaster, disaster, so what else is new?
We've suffered the worst and then some.
So I'm sorry to tell you, my suffering friends,
Of the terrible scourge still to come.

[Chorus]

Oh, a suffering world cries for mercy
As far as the eye can see.
Lawyers around every bend in the road,
Lawyers in every tree,
Lawyers in restaurants, lawyers in clubs,
Lawyers behind every door,
Behind windows and potted plants, shade trees and shrubs,
Lawyers on pogo sticks, lawyers in politics!

[Chorus]

In spring there's tornadoes and rampaging floods,
In summer it's heat stroke and draught.
There's Ivy League football to ruin the fall,
It's a terrible scourge, without doubt.
There are blizzards to batter the shivering plain.
There are dust storms that strike, but far worse
Is the threat of disaster to shrivel the brain,
It's the threat of implacable curse.

In ten years we're gonna have one million lawyers,
One million lawyers, one million lawyers.
In ten years we're gonna have one million lawyers.
How much can a poor nation stand?
How much can a poor nation stand?

 

[fox69]

"One Time And One Time Only"

"One Time And One Time Only"


I spent my hungry young years running wild
There was so much for me to do
And I spent cities like a handful of change
But I never quit looking for you

One time and one time only
Been such a long time lonely
One time for all time it will be
Been waiting such a long time
Each time has been the wrong time
Until you came to me

I looked for you in every face I saw
And could not find you any where
Then finally one day I quit trying at all
And looked up to see you standing there

One time and one time only
Been such a long time lonely
One time for all time it will be
Been waiting such a long time
Each time has been the wrong time
Until you came to me

I don't mind telling you what's on my mind
It's no big secret any more
I have no plans at all for moving on
That's one thing that I was never looking for

One time and one time only
Been such a long time lonely
One time for all time it will be
Been waiting such a long time
Each time has been the wrong time
Until you came to me

 

[fox69]

"Oops"

"Oops"


We got a brand new puppy
We called that puppy “Clyde”
Mom said I’d have to train him
To wait and go outside
I started watching TV
The time went flying by
But when I saw what Clyde had done
I thought that I would die
Oops!
I made a big mistake
Oops!
I didn’t calculate
I thought I’d be okay
And then oops!
I’m sorry
We came home with the groceries
Bags and bags of stuff
My job was putting things away
And that was not so tough
But first I started playing
And then I played some more
Till all the frozen groceries
Were dripping on the floor
Oops!
I made a big mistake
Oops!
I didn’t calculate
I thought I’d be okay
And then oops!
I’m sorry
My clothes were really dirty
I packed them up and then
I took them to the Laundromat
To get them clean again
I bought a box of soap suds
As wide as it was tall
I wasn’t sure how much to use
And so I used it all
Oops!
I made a big mistake
Oops!
I didn’t calculate
I thought I’d be okay
And then oops!
I’m sorry
Last Friday was my bath night
I ran the water hot
I put in all my ships and boats
(I like my boats a lot)
And while the tub was filling
I took a walk around
I was downstairs with Momma
When I heard a splashing sound
Oops!
I made a big mistake
Oops!
I didn’t calculate
I thought I’d be okay
And then oops!
I’m sorry
Oops!
I made a big mistake
Oops!
I didn’t calculate
I thought I’d be okay
And then oops!
I’m sorry
I thought I’d be okay
And then oops!
I’m sorry

 

[fox69]

"Out Behind The Gypsy's"

"Out Behind The Gypsy's"


Out behind the gypsy's, drinking someone's wine,
Out behind the gypsy's, drinking someone's wine,
Someone passed the smoke around,
Just a friendly toke around.
I declare we all felt fine
I declare we all felt fine

Out behind the gypsy's waiting for a sign,
Out behind the gypsy's waiting for a sign,
Someone spoke in mumbling words,
Dreamed and spoke in mumbling words;
It might be the words were mine
It might be the words were mine.

And I dream them over and over.
They come to me like a lover.
I dream that I do discover
Peace in my life, peace in my life.

Stars were on our shoulders dropping from the trees,
Stars were on our shoulders dropping from the trees.
Now the moon was in our hair,
No one knew who put it there;
There were words upon the breeze,
There were words upon the breeze.

And I dream them over and over.
They come to me like a lover.
I dream that I do discover
Peace in my life, peace in my life.

 

[fox69]

"Out Of Luck"

"Out Of Luck"


Pulled into Jackson in the morning light,
Saw the last of Jackson about ten last night,
Had some chili, and caught a show,
Deputy sheriff said time to go,
Out of luck and out on another highway.

Lord, lord, wouldn't I love to throw these shoes away,
They won't let me stay no place for no time,,
Lord, Lord, wouldn't I love to never go away,
Out of luck, out on another highway.

Ain't much to look at, but can't help that,
I'm a little short, drink too much and I'm getting fat,
I'd change it all if I had my way,
But you've got to play 'em the way they lay.
Out of luck, and out on another highway.

Wrote a picture postcard to a friend of mine,
Heading south to winter in the bright sunshine,
Wasn't no use to mail it, though,
'Cause he's gone where the chilly winds don't blow,
Out of luck, and out on another highway.

 

[fox69]

"Outward Bound"

"Outward Bound"


Outward bound, upon a ship that sails no ocean,
Outward bound, it has no crew but me and you
All alone, when just a minute ago the shore
was filled with people, with people that we knew.

[Chorus:]
So farewell, adieu, so long, vaya con Dios.
May they find whatever they are looking for.
Remember when the wine was better than ever before.
We could not ask, we could not ask for more.

Outward bound upon a journey without ending,
Outward bound, uncharted waters beneath our bow.
Far behind, the green familiar shore is fading
into time, and time has left us now.

[Chorus]

Outward bound, upon a ship with tattered sail,
Outward bound upon a crooked, lonesome trail.
Things we learn, we'll just be satisfied in knowing
And we'll tell it to our kids as a fairy tale.

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Packwood"

"Packwood"


When I asked Senator Packwood
How he planned to cast his vote
He grabbed me by the neck
And stuck his tongue down my throat
It’s just his sensitive way
Of saying, “Do it my way”
Time to find another job
Bye, bye, Bob
He went to New York City
Had a lot of success
Saw the Statue of Liberty
Stuck his hand up her dress
It’s just his sensitive way
Of saying, “Have a nice day”
Time to find another job
Bye, bye Bob

 

[fox69]

"Pandora's Box"

"Pandora's Box"


Night passed so slowly
All the dreams were bad
Pandora's box fell down
It broke open
All of my memories
Bound to make me sad
I heard every unkind word I'd spoken
Hard though I tried
I couldn't get myself awake
Hard though I cried
I would remember each mistake
Prayin' for sunrise
Prayers were all I had
Prayers and all the promises I'd broken
Hmmmmmm
Hmmmmmm
How can I make it
Feelin' this a-way
Not at all convinced
To go on living
No place to go to
No excuse to stay
One more soul in bad need of forgiving
Hard though I tried
I couldn't get myself awake
Hard though I cried
I would remember each mistake
Hangin' on till sunrise
Livin' day by day
Prayin' for grace and faced with a need for living
Hangin' on till sunrise
Livin' day by day
Prayin' for grace and faced with a need for living