ALEX BEVAN

Mister Bojangles

I knew a man Bojangles who would dance for you

In worn out shoes

Silver hair,  ragged shirt and baggy pants

The old soft shoe

He jumped so high  Jumped so fine

Then he'd lightly touch down

Mr. Bojangles

Mr. Bojangles

Mr. Bojangles

Dance

I met him in a cell in New Orleans, I was

Down and out

He looked to me to be the eyes of age

As he spoke right out

He talked of life     Talked of life

Laughed, slapped his leg in step

He said the name Bojangles and he danced a lick

Across the cell

He grabbed his pants… a better stance

Ooh, he jumped so high

He clicked his heels

He let go a laugh       He let go a laugh

Shook back his clothes all around

Mr. Bojangles

Mr. Bojangles

Mr. Bojangles

Dance

Said he danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs

Throughout the south

He spoke in tears of fifteen years

How his dog and him

They travelled about

His dog up and died

Dog up and died

After twenty years he still grieves

He said I dance now at every chance in honky tonks

For drinks and tips

But most time I spend behind these county bars

'Cause I drinks a bit

He shook his head and as he shook his head

I heard someone ask please

Mr. Bojangles

Mr. Bojangles

Mr. Bojangles

Dance

Don’t Think Twice

It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe

It don’t matter, anyhow

An’ it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe

If you don’t know by now

When your rooster crows at the break of dawn

Look out your window and I’ll be gone

You’re the reason I’m trav’lin’ on

Don’t think twice, it’s all right

It ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe

That light I never knowed

An’ it ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe

I’m on the dark side of the road

Still I wish there was somethin’ you would do or say

To try and make me change my mind and stay

We never did too much talkin’ anyway

So don’t think twice, it’s all right

It ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal

Like you never did before

It ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal

I can’t hear you anymore

I’m a-thinkin’ and a-wond’rin’ all the way down the road

I once loved a woman, a child I’m told

I give her my heart but she wanted my soul

But don’t think twice, it’s all right

I’m walkin’ down that long, lonesome road, babe

Where I’m bound, I can’t tell

But goodbye’s too good a word, gal

So I’ll just say fare thee well

I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind

You could have done better but I don’t mind

You just kinda wasted my precious time

But don’t think twice, it’s all right 

House of the Rising Sun

There is a house in New Orleans

They call the Rising Sun

And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy

And God, I know I’m one

My mother was a tailor

She sewed my new blue jeans

My father was a gamblin' man

Down in New Orleans

The only thing a gambler needs

Is a suitcase and a trunk

And the only time he's satisfied

Is when he's on a drunk

Oh, mother, tell your children

Not to do what I have done

Spend your lives in sin and misery

In the house of the rising sun

I got one foot on the platform

And another on the train

I'm going back to New Orleans

To wear that ball and chain

There is a house in New Orleans

They call the Rising Sun

And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy

And God, I know I’m one

And God, I know I’m one

The Wabash Cannonball

From the great Atlantic ocean to the wide Pacific shore

The green and flowing mountains to the southbelle by the door

She's mighty tall and handsome she's know quite well by all

Regular combination on the Wabash Cannonball

Listen to the jingle, the rumble and the roar

As she glides along the woodland o'er the hills and by the shore

Hear the mighty rush of the engine and the lonesome hobo's squall

You travel across the country on the Wabash Cannonball

Oh the eastern states are dandy so the people always say

From New York to St. Louis and Chicago by the way

The hills of Minnesota where the sparkling waters fall

No chances can be taken on the Wabash Cannonball

Here's to Daddy Claxton may his name forever stand

In the hills of Tennessee and of course throughout the land

His earthly race are over and the curtains round him fall

We’ll carry him on to Victory on the Wabash Cannonball

She came down from Birmingham one cold December day

Pulled into that station.. you could hear them people say

She came from Tennessee, boys, she's long and he's tall

She came from Alabam….. on the Wabash Cannonball

Angel From Montgomery

I am an old woman named after my mother

My old man is another child that's grown old

If dreams were lightning, thunder were desire

This old house would have burnt down a long time ago

Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery

Make me a poster of an old rodeo

Just give me one thing that I can hold on to

To believe in this living is just a hard way to go

When I was a young girl well, I had me a cowboy

He weren't much to look at, just free rambling man

But that was a long time and no matter how I try

The years just flow by like a broken down dam

Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery

Make me a poster of an old rodeo

Just give me one thing that I can hold on to

To believe in this living is just a hard way to go

There's flies in the kitchen I can hear 'em there buzzing

And I ain't done nothing since I woke up today

How the hell can a person go to work in the morning

And come home in the evening 

and have nothing to say

Ramblin’ Boy

He was a pal and a friend always

We rambled 'round in the hard ol' days

He never cared if I had no dough

We rambled 'round in the rain and snow

So here's to you my ramblin' boy

May all your rambles bring you joy

So here's to you my ramblin' boy

May all your rambles bring you joy

In Tulsa town we chanced to stray

We thought we'd try to work one day

The boss says he had room for one

Says my old pal, "We'd rather bum”

Late one night in a jungle camp

The weather was cold and it was damp

He got the chills, and he got them bad

They took the only friend I ever had

He left me here to ramble on

My ramblin' pal is dead and gone

If when we die we go somewhere

I'll bet you a dollar he's ramblin' there

Early Morning Rain

In the early morning rain with a dollar in my hand

With an aching in my heart and my pockets full of sand

I'm a long way from home and I miss my loved ones so

In the early morning rain with no place to go

Out on runway number nine a big 707's set to go

But, I'm stuck here in the grass where the cold wind blows

Now, the liquor tasted good and the women all were fast

there she goes, my friend, well she's going down at last

Hear the mighty engines roar - see the silver bird on high

She's away and westward bound - 

far above the clouds she'll fly

There the morning rain don't fall 

and the sun always shines

She'll be flying over my home in about three hours time

This old airport's got me down - it's no earthly good to me

'Cause I'm stuck here on the ground as 

cold and drunk as I can be

You can't jump a jet plane like you can a freight train

So, I'd best be on my way in the early morning rain

You can't jump a jet plane like you can a freight train

So, I'd best be on my way in the early morning rain

Moondance

Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance

With the stars up above in your eyes

A fantabulous night to make romance

'Neath the cover of October skies

And all the leaves on the trees are falling

To the sound of the breezes that blow

And I'm trying to please to the calling

Of your heart-strings that play soft and low

And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush

And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush

Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love

Can I just make some more romance with you, my love

Well, I want to make love to you tonight

I can't wait 'til the morning has come

And I know now the time is just right

And straight into my arms you will run

And when you come my heart will be waiting

To make sure that you're never alone

There and then all my dreams will come true, dear

There and then I will make you my own

And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside

And I know how much you want me that you can't hide

Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love

Can I just make some more romance with you, my love

This Land is Your Land

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York island,

From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters; 

This land was made for you and me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway 

I saw above me that endless skyway; 

I saw below me that golden valley; 

This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps 

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts; 

And all around me a voice was sounding;

This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling, 

And the wheat fields waving 

and the dust clouds rolling, 

As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting: 

This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there,

And on the sign it said "No Trespassing." 

But on the other side it didn't say nothing.

That side was made for you and me.

Nobody living can ever stop me, 

As I go walking that freedom highway; 

Nobody living can ever make me turn back 

This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York island,

From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters; 

This land was made for you and me.

The Times They Are a Changing…

Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone.

If your time to you Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin’.

Come writers and critics

Who prophesize with your pen

And keep your eyes wide

The chance won't come again

And don't speak too soon

For the wheel's still in spin

And there's no tellin' who

That it's namin'.

For the loser now

Will be later to win

For the times they are a-changin’.

Come senators, congressmen

Please heed the call

Don't stand in the doorway

Don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt

Will be he who has stalled

There's a battle outside

And it is ragin'.

It'll soon shake your windows

And rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changin’.

Come mothers and fathers

Throughout the land

And don't criticize

What you can't understand

Your sons and your daughters

Are beyond your command

Your old road is

Rapidly agin'.

Please get out of the new one

If you can't lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin’.

The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is

Rapidly fadin'.

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin’.

Big Yellow Taxi

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Ooh, bop-bop-bop

Ooh, bop-bop-bop (na-na-na-na-na)

They took all the trees and put 'em in a tree museum

And they charged the people 

a dollar and a half to see them

Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?

Hey, farmer, farmer, put away your DDT

I don't care about spots on my apples

Leave me the birds and the bees

Please!

Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?

Late last night, I heard the screen door slam

And a big yellow taxi took my old man

Now, don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?

They paved paradise to put up a parking lot

Like a Rolling Stone

Once upon a time you dressed so fine

Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?

People call say 'beware doll, you're bound to fall'

You thought they were all kidding you

You used to laugh about

Everybody that was hanging out

Now you don't talk so loud

Now you don't seem so proud

About having to be scrounging your next meal

Ahh you've gone to the finest schools, alright 

Miss Lonely

But you know you only used to get juiced in it

Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street

And now you're gonna have to get used to it

You say you never compromise

With the mystery tramp, but now you realize

He's not selling any alibis

As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes

And say do you want to make a deal?

How does it feel, how does it feel?

To be on your own, with no direction home

A complete unknown, like a rolling stone

Ah you never turned around to see the frowns

On the jugglers and the clowns 

when they all did tricks for you

You never understood that it ain't no good

You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you

You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat

Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat

Ain't it hard when you discovered that

He really wasn't where it's at

After he took from you everything he could steal

How does it feel, how does it feel?

To have on your own, with no direction home

Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone

Ahh princess on a steeple and all the pretty people

They're all drinking, thinking that they've got it made

Exchanging all precious gifts

But you better take your diamond ring, 

you better pawn it babe

You used to be so amused

At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used

Go to him he calls you, you can't refuse

When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose

You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to conceal