Archive for the ‘Song lyrics’ Category

Hoyo de Manzanares

Sunday, January 28th, 2007

Written in Brooklyn in 1976 after reading a TIME magazine article about the execution of three Basque separatists in Hoyo de Manzanares.

Winding through the hills on the road to Madrid,
The jeeps and vans came to a stop;
The morning sun had just begun
To warm the mountain tops.

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Union Hero

Saturday, January 27th, 2007

Written in about 1976, and based on my ancestor Uncle Hyland Biddle, wounded at the Battle of Shiloh

CHORUS:

Well, I feel like I’m slippin’ into hell to the sound of a rebel yell;
I only want to be a Union hero,
Most decorated man at the Battle of Shiloh;
But I had to get shot in the knee,
And, as the doctor said to me,
“If the pain don’t kill you, boy, it’ll be the gangrene.”

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You Know How You Need Somebody

Saturday, January 27th, 2007

Written around 1974, loosely based on a bus ride to Indianapolis sitting next to a Marine, heading to Columbus to see Karl play with his band at a Smuggler’s Inn

One evenin’ feelin’ kinda low,
I took the bus to Ohio;
To see my brother play in a band at a Holiday Inn;
And I asked to sit next to this man,
And he winked and said, “Sure you can,”
I took the window seat, and I settled down next to him.

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Unfinished Business

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

Written about 1979

Well, there’s a knock upon his door,
He begins to apologize;
He says, “I guess I should have warned you,”
And you know you’re getting’ wise, he’s got . . .

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Two-dollar Window

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

Based on a conversation I had with a one-armed man in line at the $2 window at the 1974 Kentucky Derby

I met you at the two-dollar window,
At the races on a day in July;
And I could tell you were a regular winner,
By the crazy look you had in your eye.

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Tongue Sandwich

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

Written in Brooklyn, New York, in 1975

Movin’ and groovin’ at the deli,
Not exactly sure what I want;
Standin’ at the counter, starin’ through the glass,
Corned beef is nice, but it ain’t got no class.

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Stuck

Friday, January 19th, 2007

Written at a booth in Deena’s Diner during the summer of 1975.

Just outta Jackson, headin’ for Nashville,
‘Cause I’m gonna be a country star, too;
When the axel started breakin’ and the van started shakin’,
We pulled off on Highway 22.

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Stray Dog

Friday, January 19th, 2007

Written around 1975 after seeing a Humane Society film on stray dogs

Stray dog, stray dog,
Let me take you home where it’s warm;
Stray dog, stray dog,
Come on in from the storm.

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Slippin’ through My Fingers

Friday, January 19th, 2007

Written in 1974, based on an overheard conversation between a couple in a restaurant.

CHORUS:

I feel you slippin’ through my finger,
And maybe that’s the way it has to be;
But let’s stop the car right here,
Have another cup of coffee,
And tell me why you’re breakin’ up with me.

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Sittin’ Here Stood Up Again

Friday, January 19th, 2007

Written in about 1975

I can go for months without once ever thinkin’ of you;
And then it’s hit me,
The feelin’ will grip me again.

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