Tom Paxton

[fox69]

"Passing Through Tulsa"

"Passing Through Tulsa"


Passing thru Tulsa at four in the morning
Crossing the Arkansas one more time
Moon on the river, it's lower than usual
Can't get much lower than this gas gauge of mine
All the lights in Tulsa could not warm my heart now
That is something only you would know
I'm passing thru Tulsa at four in the mornin’
But I've really got nowhere to go
Stoppin' for gas and a bottle of ice tea
I asked the kid if he's new around here
He's up from Dallas; he moved here in eighty
I had a hell of a future that year
Movin' and shakin', I was always in motion
My name in the papers, a man in the know
Now I'm passing thru Tulsa at four in the morning
But I've really got nowhere to go
Sun comin' up in my rear view mirror now
Openin' the wide blue skies
I hope the sun helps me see things clearer now
As mile after meaningless mile roll by
Up in the visor I stash all my photographs
All of them taken a long time ago
You in the swimming pool, you on your bicycle
You on the river at Cape Girardeau
Gone with the Arkansas, swept by the current now
Where you are now only you and God know
Me, I'm passing thru Tulsa at four in the morning
But I've really got nowhere to go
Sun’s comin' up in my rear view mirror now
Openin' the wide blue skies
I hope the sun helps me see things clearer now
As mile after meaningless mile roll by
Up in the visor I stash all my photographs
All of them taken a long time ago
You in the swimming pool, you on your bicycle
You on the river at Cape Girardeau
Gone with the Arkansas, swept by the current now
Where you are now only you and God know
Me, I'm passing thru Tulsa at four in the morning
But I've really got nowhere to go
I'm passing thru Tulsa at four in the morning
But I've really got nowhere to go

 

[fox69]

"Peace Will Come"

"Peace Will Come"


Peace
Peace will
Peace will come
And let it begin with me

We
We need
We need peace
And let it begin with me

Oh, my own life is all I can hope to control.
Oh, let my life be lived for the good,
Good of my soul.
Let it bring

Peace
Sweet peace
Peace will come
And let it begin with me

 

[fox69]

"Peanut Butter Pie"

"Peanut Butter Pie"


The principal spoke to the school one day
Not enough work and too much play
No more recess, no more fun
No more laughing anyone
Someone told him, “Here try this”
He took one bite and his face was bliss
He looked so happy that he could cry
When he ate a piece of peanut butter pie
Try, try some peanut butter pie
If you don’t think it’s wonderful, I want to know why
It will stick to your mouth ‘til you can’t say “Hi!”
Try, try some peanut butter pie
When I was young I had a pup
He licked my face to wake me up
Up on the sofa he would jump
Wag his long tail, thump! thump! thumb!
When I’d come back home from town
He would nearly knock me down
We’d roll on the ground then he and I
Would eat a piece of peanut butter pie
Try, try some peanut butter pie
If you don’t think it’s wonderful, I want to know why
It will stick to your mouth ‘til you can’t say “Hi!”
Try, try some peanut butter pie
When I come home from school at three
My mother is waiting there for me
I have chores that I must do
I’ll bet that you have some too
First I have a little treat
She gives me a little bite to eat
But you and I pretend that I
Am eating peanut butter pie
Try, try some peanut butter pie
If you don’t think it’s wonderful, I want to know why
It will stick to your mouth ‘til you can’t say “Hi!”
Try, try some peanut butter pie
Try, try some peanut butter pie
Oh, try, try some peanut butter pie

 

[fox69]

"Phil"

"Phil"


I opened the paper, there was your picture,
Gone, gone, gone by your own hand.
I couldn't believe it, the paper was shakin',
Gone, gone, gone by your own hand.

I know I'm gonna spend the rest of my lifetime wondering why,
You found yourself so badly hurt you had to die.

I opened the paper, there was your picture,
Gone, gone, gone by your own hand.
The phone started ringing, had I heard about it?
I shook every time I heard it ring.
What was my reaction? I put the phone down.
That was the only news that was fit to sing.

They ask about Dylan, about MacDougal Street and Third.
Question piled on question and each question more absurd.

I opened the paper, there was your picture,
Gone, gone, gone by your own hand.

Oh, I remember "There But For Fortune".
There but for fortune you and I would go.
Fortune turned its back on you,
Or so it must have seemed to you,
Christ alone knows what was the final blow.

The last time I saw you, the last time I saw you,
Bleeker Street outside the Other End.
I told you I'd see you. I got distracted.
I never saw your face again.

I heard that you were feeling stronger every day.
I heard that you were well, with good things on their way.

Then I opened the paper, there was your picture,
Gone, gone, gone by your own hand.

[Repeat from "Oh I remember There but for Fortune" to end]

 

[fox69]

"Poems Written With A Borrowed Pen"

"Poems Written With A Borrowed Pen"


Holdin' on till the morning comes
Holdin' a mug between two thumbs
I’m gonna pay for this coffee with some awful nerves
Writing the same old lines again
Using a borrowed ball-point pen
The poet mostly gets the poem he deserves
But poems written with a borrowed pen
Won’t bring you back to me again, oh darling
I’m stuck here for the rest of my life, oh darling
It’s so hard without you, day by day by day
Thinking about the best of times
Didn’t we hear the midnight chimes
Didn’t we grow together; didn’t we have it all
Sometimes life can seem insane
You woke up in a little pain
Next thing the head-nurse wakes me with a midnight call
And poems written with a borrowed pen
Won’t bring you back to me again, oh darling
I’m stuck here for the rest of my life, oh, darling
It’s so hard without you, day by day by day
A hundred times a day I do familiar things
I start to read the paper and the telephone rings
I listen for your footsteps, wondering who it can be
Then the pain comes down like a blanket, there’s no
-one here but me
There’s no-one here but me
Reading the papers through again
Trouble for the president’s men
Revolutions out there, shaking the old regimes
Spilling coffee on the table top
I know these tears have got to stop
I know they see me as a man who lives in his dreams
But poems written with a borrowed pen
Won’t bring you back to me again, oh darling
I’m stuck here for the rest of my life, oh, darling
It’s so hard without you, day by day by day
A hundred times a day I do familiar things
I start to read the paper and the telephone rings
I listen for your footsteps, wondering who it can be
Then the pain comes down like a blanket, there’s no
-one here but me
There’s no-one here but me
Holding on till the morning comes
Holding a mug between two thumbs
I’m gonna pay for this coffee with some awful nerves
Writing the same old lines again
Using a borrowed ball-point pen
The poet mostly gets the poem he deserves
But poems written with a borrowed pen
Won’t bring you back to me again, oh darling
I’m stuck here for the rest of my life, oh, darling
It’s so hard without you, day by day by day
It’s so hard without you, day by day by da

 

[fox69]

"Presbyterian Boy"

"Presbyterian Boy"


I've been drinkin' a little too much
I've been accused of loosin' my touch
And if I'm going to be totally honest
I've been goin' crutch to crutch
A mama's pride and joy
Another Presbyterian boy
Out in the wide, wide world
Out on a limb
I've been makin' some silly mistakes
I've been blowin' some pretty good breaks
And if you wanna hear all there is
I'm a-wonderin' what in the world it takes
For a mama's pride and joy
Another Presbyterian boy
Out in the wide, wide world
Out on a limb
Out in the wide, wide world
Out on a limb
Oh Lord, I get the feelin'
Sittin' here spinnin' my wheels
Gettin' nowhere at all
In record time
Just in case you wonder
How the situation feels
It's nickle and dime
Only nickle and dime
I've been lettin' it slip away
Losin' it day by day
Now all my friends are shakin' their heads
And wonderin' what in the world to say
To a mama's pride and joy
Another Presbyterian boy
Out in the wide, wide world
Out on a limb
Out in the wide, wide world
Out on a limb
Oh Lord, I get the feelin'
I’m sittin' here spinnin' my wheels
Gettin' nowhere at all
In record time
Just in case you wonder
How the situation feels
Just nickle and dime
Only nickle and dime
I've been lettin' it slip away
I've been losin' it day by day
Now all my friends are shakin' their heads
And wonderin' what in the world to say
To a mama's pride and joy
Another Presbyterian boy
Out in the wide, wide world
Out on a limb
Out in the wide, wide world
Out on a limb

 

[fox69]

"Ramblin' Boy"

"Ramblin' Boy"


He was a man and a friend always.
He stuck with me in the bad old days.
He never cared if I had no dough,
We rambled round in the rain and snow.

So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.
So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.

In Tulsa town we chanced to stray,
We thought we'd try to work one day.
The boss said he had room for one,
Said my old pal we'd rather bum.

So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.
So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.

Late one night in a jungle camp,
The weather it was cold and damp.
He got the chills and he got 'em bad.
Try took the only friend I had.

So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.
So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.

He left here to ramble on,
My rambling pal is dead and gone.
If when we die we go somewhere,
I bet you a dollar that he's rambling there.

So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.
So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.

 

[fox69]

"Rambling Boy"

"Rambling Boy"


He was a man and a friend always.
He stuck with me in the bad old days.
He never cared if I had no dough,
We rambled round in the rain and snow.

So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.
So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.

In Tulsa town we chanced to stray,
We thought we'd try to work one day.
The boss said he had room for one,
Said my old pal we'd rather bum.

So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.
So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.

Late one night in a jungle camp,
The weather it was cold and damp.
He got the chills and he got 'em bad.
Try took the only friend I had.

So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.
So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.

He left here to ramble on,
My rambling pal is dead and gone.
If when we die we go somewhere,
I bet you a dollar that he's rambling there.

So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.
So here's to you my Rambling Boy,
May all your rambling bring you joy.

 

[fox69]

"Redemption Road"

"Redemption Road"


Paid the man all he was owed,
Tipped my hat and walked away
Down that sweet redemption road,
Put it down to yesterday.

Come redemption my old friend,
When the seeds of life are sowed.
Come and lead me to the end
Of that sweet redemption road.

Looking back I can't complain.
I took out what I put in.
Days of snow and days of rain
And redemption in the end.

Come redemption my old friend,
When the seeds of life are sowed.
Come and lead me to the end
Of that sweet redemption road.

Only time and time alone
Treats each weary soul the same.
When my sum of days has flown,
Time alone will know my name.

When my sum of days has flown,
Time alone will know my name.

 

[fox69]

"Retrospective"

"Retrospective"


Now, when the paint was dry
And the colours set
It was painful yet
To an honest eye
Here, where the walls were hung
With the sweat of years
The familiar fears
Since the hands were young
Now, in a battered chair
With his tea gone cold
And his hands grown old
He will sit and stare
Here, where his life is hung
With the blood in view
There’s been nothing new
Since the hands were young
Schoolboys laugh in the streets below
Laughter cruel as the long ago
Fingers point through the bitter years
And the bitter tears
Now, when the paint was dry
And the die was cast
It was clear at last
It was all a lie
Red never left his hand
And the blue was wrong
With a green too strong
Never what he planned
Now, in a rumpled bed
With a night to kill
He’ll be painting still
If he isn’t dead
Now, he can only stare
As the old dream falls
At the mocking walls
And the walls are bare