1.Me And Bobby Mcgee
Busted flat in baton rouge headin' for the trains feelin' nearly
faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained took us all
the way to new orleans
I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
And was blowin' sad while bobby sang the blues
With them windshield wipers slappin' time
And bobby clappin' hands we finally sang up every song that
driver knew
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free
Feeling good was easy lord when bobby sang the blues
Feeling good was good enough for me good enough for me and bobby
mcgee
From the coal mines of kentucky to the california sun
Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Standin' right beside me lord through everything i done
And every night she kept me from the cold
Then somewhere near salinas lord i let her slip away
Lookin' for the home i hope she'll find
I'd trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday holdin'
bobby's body next to mine
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free
Feeling good was easy lord when bobby sang the blues
Feeling good was good enough for me good enough for me and bobby
mcgee
2.Colonel Maggie
Colonel maggie is my friend
She got my self respect right back for me
Colonel maggie is my friend
With good old motherly sweet sympathy
Flat down on the street with a bottle at my feet
Gutter life and wine was all i craved
Then she came up to me from the salvation army
She thought that i was good enough to save
Colonel maggie is my friend
She tried to put some pride back into me
Colonel maggie is my friend
With good old motherly sweet sympathy
She helped me to my feet and she got me off the street
I was far too sick to look ashamed
Some soup and hot tea and a blanket over me
And when we talked she called me by my name
Colonel maggie is my friend
She tried to put some pride back into me
Colonel maggie is my friend
With good old motherly sweet sympathy
Well that was years ago, now i don't drink no more
And rest her soul old maggies dead and gone
And when my will-powers weak, i walk back to that street
And colonel maggie seems to walk along
Colonel maggie is my friend
She tried to put some pride back into me
Colonel maggie is my friend
With good old motherly sweet sympathy
3.Swiss Cottage Place
I turned down the covers on a bed where two lovers
Found reasons to face each new day
In a room full of memories in a house built for love
On a street down in swiss cottage place
My mind just surrenders to all i remember
Come to steal every moment away
Yesterday's gone and where i stand here alone
It's a hollow ringing place called today
Last night i watched baby as she was boardin'
A greyhound bus back to st louis
And i couldn't let her know i knew why she was leavin'
Not after all we've been through
Slippin' my coat from my shoulders i said hon
It may get cold in st louis
And the look in her eyes grew suddenly sad
She knew that i knew what she knew
So now my mind surrenders to all i remember
Come to steal every moment away
From this room full of memories from this house built for love
On the street down on swiss cottage place
4.Best Of All Possible Worlds
I was runnin' through the summer rain tryin' to catch that
evenin' train
And kill that old familiar pain weaving through my tangled brain
But when i tipped my bottle back i smacked into a cop i didn't
see
That policeman said mr cool if you're ain't drunk then you're a
fool
I said well if that's against the law then tell me why i never
saw
A man locked in that jail of yours who wasn't just as lowdown
poor as me
Well that was when someone turned out the lights
And i wound up in jail to spend the nights
And dream of all the wine and lonely girls in this best of all
possible worlds
Well i woke up next morning feelin' like my head was gone
And like my thick old tongue was lickin' somethin' sick and
wrong
And i told that man i'd sell my soul if somethin' wet and cold
is that old cell
That kindly jailer just grinned at me all eaten up with sympathy
Then he bought himself another beer and came and whispered in my
ear
That booze was just a dime a bottle boy you couldn't even buy
the smell
I said i knew there was somethin' i liked about this town
But it takes more than that to bring me down down down down
But there's still a lot of wine and lonely girls in this best of
all possible worlds
Well they finally came and they told me they was a gonna set me
free
And i'd be leavin' town if i knew what was good for me
I said it's nice to learn that everybody's so concerned about my
health
I said i won't be leavin' no more quicker than i fastly can
Cause i've enjoyed about this much of this as i can stand
And i don't need this town of yours more than i never needed
nothin' else
Ha ha cause there's still a lotta drinks that i ain't drunk
Lots of pretty thoughts that i ain't never thought oh yeah
Lord there's still so many lonely girls in this best of all
possible worlds
5.Where Have All The Average People Gone
The people in this city call me country,
Because of how i walk and talk and smile.
Well i don't mind them laughing in the city,
But the country folks all say i'm citified.
The fighting men they say that i'm a coward.
Because i never push no one around.
Gentle people call me trouble-maker,
Cause i'll always fight and stand my ground.
Funny i don't fit.
Where have all the average people gone？
Some pious people point and call me sinner,
Because to them i've never seen the lights.
Other folks think of me as a preacher.
I'm just doing what i think is right.
The wealthy people think that i am a hobo,
Lean and hungry, writing mournful songs.
And the poor, poor people think i am a rich man,
But really, i'm just trying to get along.
It's funny i don't fit.
Tell me where have all the average people gone？
And the government has given me a number,
To simplify my birth and life and death.
And still my woman thinks i'm awful important,
Like the moon and the sun and the sea and the sky and breath.
Yes, it's funny i don't fit.
Where have all the average people gone？
Honey i don't fit,
Where have all the average people gone？
6.I'm Gonna Teach My Heart To Bend
You conjure up your courage and you finally make the telephone
call
You get a busy signal else it rings and no-one answers at all
And then your mind begins imagining things that could or
couldn't be so
I know the feelin' that you're feelin' it's a feelin' that i'm
feelin'
And i want you to know
I'm gonna teach my heart to bend instead of breakin'
Teach myself to lean and not to fall
Teach my heart to bend instead of breakin'
I've taken all i can take and that's all
I'm gonna teach my heart to bend instead of breakin'
Teach myself to lean and not to fall
Teach my heart to bend instead of breakin'
I've taken all i can take and that's all
7.Darby's Castle
See the ruin on the hill where the smoke is hanging still
Like an echo of an age long forgotten;
There's a story of a home crushed beneath those blackened stones
And the roof which fell before the beams were rotten
Cecil darby loved his wife, and he laboured all his life
To provide her with material posessions;
And he built for her a home of the finest wood and stone
And the building soon became his sole obsession.
Oh, it took three hundred days for the timbers to be raised
And thge silhouette was seen for miles around;
And the gables reached as high as the eagles in the sky
But it only took one night to bring it down
When darby's castle tumbled to the ground
Though they shared a common bed there was precious little said
In the moments that were set aside for sleeping
For his busy dreams were filled with the rooms he'd yet to build
And he never heard young ellen darby weeping
Then one night he heard a sound, as he laid his pencil down
And he traced it to her door and turned the handle
And the pale light of the moon through the window of the room
Split the shadows where two bodies lay tangled
Oh, it took three hundred days for the timbers to be raised
And the silhouette was seen for miles around
And the gables reached as high as the eagles in the sky
But it only took one night to bring it down
When darby's castle tumbled to the ground
8.Boeing Boeing 707
Overcharge for excess baggage
Know your concourse, know your gate
Up this way sir, not that way sir,
Airplane departs gate six eight
Please sir may l see your ticket
Fasten your seat belt, you can't smoke
Beverage, anything you'd care for
Sorry but we're out of coke
Boeing boeing 707
Going, going skywardly heavenly
Higher than bluebirds fly
Why then oh why can't l
Destination de-plane slowly
Do this, do that, l comply
God bless orville, god bless wilbur
It's the only way to fly
Boeing boeing 707
Going, going skywardly heavenly
Higher than bluebirds fly
Why then oh why can't l
Boeing boeing 707
Going, going skywardly heavenly
Higher than bluebirds fly
Why then oh why can't l
Boeing (repeated to fade)
9.Meanwhile Back In Abilene
Released on
Movin' all around, movin' all around
Won't you settle down in this old town
On the move, honey that's my groove
Travel everywhere, breathing in the air
I don't have a care
In this old world
And i feel fine, everything is mine
Meanwhile back in abilene the sun is coming up
And the milkman's making all the rounds he made when i was just
a pup
Barbershop will open up and jacksons drugstore too
And they'll talk about this poor young wandering fool
Taking in the sights, see the city lights
Smiling at the girls and being cool
Having fun, my life has just begun
Fishing in the stream with a piece of string
All i catch is turles and old boots
And i don't mind, 'cos i'm feeling fine
Meanwhile back in abilene the sun is going down
And the drive-in restaurants the only place to go to hear a
sound
Drive-in crowd know each and every one by their first name
And they'll talk about me, wonder if i've changed
Movin' all around, movin' all around
Won't you settle down in this old town
On the move, honey that's my groove
Travel everywhere, breathing in the air
I don't have a care
In this old world
And i feel fine, everything is mine
Taking in the sights, see the city lights
Smiling at the girls and being cool
Having fun, my life has just begun
Fishing in the stream with a piece of string
All i catch is turtles and old boots
And i don't mind, 'cos i'm feeling fine
10.Shame Bird
Shame bird is flying, shame, shame on someone
Shame bird is flying, shame, shame on somebody
That someone is me
Don't crook your finger at me
If you see me walking by
I'm not the same guy when i'm high, ha
Well it may be out'a sight and i can't see it
It may be out'a sight and i can't see it
It may be out'a sight and i can't see it
I guess the reason being maybe i can't be it
I say shame bird is flying, shame, shame on someone
Shame bird is flying, shame, shame on somebody
That someone is me
Don't crook your finger at me
If you see me walking by
I'm not the same guy when i'm high
Well it may be out'a sight and i can't see it
It may be out'a sight and i can't see it
It may be out'a sight and i can't see it
I guess the reason being maybe i can't be it
I say shame bird is flying, shame, shame on someone
Shame bird is flying, shame, shame on somebody
That someone is me
Don't crook your finger at me
If you see me walking by
I'm not the same guy when i'm high
Lord knows
11.Vance
Spoken：
He was born one mornin'
It was cold and it was snowin'
And from the start he never had a chance
And though the doctors said he couldn't live
His mama had some faith to give
'n' they brought him to her and his mama named him vance
He was sick a long time then
I used to sit by him
I'd rub his head and he would squeeze my hand
But he never cried, he'd grit his teeth and smile at me
'cause he couldn't speak
And that's when i began to respect the little man
And i think vance was three right about then
He started school and one day
He came home and at the doorway i could tell
The little man didn't want to come inside
He had met a girl but her boyfriend smitty
Had caught him walkin' home with her
And nearly killed vance
But then vance never cried
And the only thing that smitty hurt was pride
And he said
(sung)
'papa do you become a man when you're twenty-one？'
And i said 'age doesn't make a man a man, my son'
Spoken：
He looked at me so puzzled with eyes so young and kind
'n' i think vance was seven about that time
I guess they say that first love is the very best
At least it was with vance
'cause he'd scratched 'becky' on his desk
But becky went with smitty and vance was very small
And he used to dream what it'd be like to be tall
And then a few years later vance came in one day
And told me and his mama that he had to go away
To be fitted for a uniform
And though his mama shed a tear
He kissed her and said he'd see us in two years
And he looked at me and said 'papa, i'm gonna be a man'
Well, two years to the day
Vance came walkin' in the driveway 'n'
I didn't recognize him from his size till he got near
He came in and he hugged his mama
And said 'hey, papa, little man, wanna go with me somewhere 'n'
grab a beer？'
So we're sittin' at this table when
This fella at the bar started buggin' vance
Callin' him 'soldier'
But vance kept his cool
And he said 'papa, that guy is smitty and he's to be pitied now'
'cause that's the same guy that used to bully me in school'
Then smitty said the wrong thing
When he brought up becky's name 'n'
Vance finally stood and said 'boy, what did you say？'
And it did my heart so much good when vance hit ole smitty
And it took two of smitty's friends to carry him away
Well, vance left the very next mornin' 'n'
It was cold and it was snowin'
And from the first, life hadn't been much fun
But he had finally made a stand 'n'
He'd become a self-made man and
Incidentally, he had just turned twenty-one
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