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.
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.”
(more…)
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.
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 . . .
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.