Jimmy Buffett

By: Jimmy Buffett
1970
Sittin' on a pocket full of hard earned wages
Lookin' at the world through magazine pages
I heard a lot about the mountains and the Colorado range
Made this stop for personal reasons
Didn't know I'd catch the changin' of the seasons
Winter dictates everything from frost to naked trees

Chorus:
I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
I've walked this ground from town to town
Just to finally call it mine

Lookin' for the cloud with a styrofoam lining
Hopin' that the sun will keep on shinin'
Leading me to distant peace that waits so patiently
Need a little love to try some givin'
Try a little love and then start livin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong

Chorus:
I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
I've walked this ground from town to town
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine

Sittin' on a pocket full of hard earned wages
Lookin' at the world through magazine pages
I heard a lot about the mountains and the Colorado range
Need a little time to try some livin'
Try a little love and then start givin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong

I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
Where God and trees create the breeze
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine

It hardly seems a long time, just a minute of the day.
But the man who stood beside me more than gave himself away.
The food stain on his spotted shirt, the gray beard on his face.
A man composed of many names, so I just called him Ace.

(chorus)
But Ace can't read, and Ace can't write, and he sleeps on a bench at night.
A little man the world has left behind.
He ain't bitter, he ain't sweet. Makes his living on the street.
Never knowing what he's gonna find.

Born in Mississippi, picking cotton as a child.
He left soon for the city where he heard that life was wild.
But that was 50 years ago and nothings really strange.
From a poor dirt farm to dirty streets is really not much change.

repeat chorus

Go back to the country, naw he really can't do that.
Wasted years have left him nothing but an old straw hat.
So he puts it on his head and waves a last goodbye.
No time left to turn around and no time to ask why.

Ace can't read and Ace can't write, and he sleeps on a bench at night.
A little man the world has left behind.
He ain't bitter, he ain't sweet. Makes his living on the street.
Never knowing what he's gonna find.
And this old world has left poor Ace behind.

Evil, it's been here all along.
Good things, they just seem to have come and gone.
In my life, I have seen so much go wrong.
And there's only one way left for us to get along.

(chorus)
You gotta bend a little, one way or the other.
Gotta leave your mind open to discover.
Seems I been fightin' it all along.
You gotta bend a little no matter which side your on.
Soon you'll be gone.

Papers, they print it everday.
Housewife, wraps the garbage, then throws it away.
I don't guess she thinks they have that much to say.
But when the time is right she'll be the lady with so much to pay.

repeat chorus

History, it teaches much too well.
Nations, had to rise up 'for they fell.
And my eyes see the story they're trying to tell.
And tonight I think I heard the final toll of the bell.

We've gotta bend a little, one way or the other.
Gotta leave your mind open to discover.
Seems I've been fightin' it all along.
You've gotta bend a little no matter which side you're on.
Soon you'll be gone.
Seems I been fightin' it all along. I've been a fightin' and a fightin'.
Gotta bend a little no matter which side you're on.
It's a lonely dirty battle.
It seems I been fightin' it all along. I been a tearin' and a pullin'.
Gotta bend a little no matter which side you're on. Yes sir.
'Cause it seems I've been fightin' it all along. I been a punchin' and a gougin'.

Can you tell me where I might find my friend and companion
Now he looks a little different from anything you've seen
He likes to beat the bass drum for justice and salvation
He's got the brains of Einstein and the brawn of Mister Clean

He's a lightnin' flash who'll make the dash from one coast to the other
To stop a crime or lend a dime or help his aging mother
Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out Captain America's our man

Now he wears a mask his clothes are weird and some folks call him hokie
But he is hip he just can't dig the okie from Muskogie

Captain will help anyone a friend or a stranger
Now number one without a gun he's bypassed the Lone Ranger
He's a do do good who loves apple pie and kisses little babies
He'll guard you against everything from atom bombs to rabies

Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out Captain America's our man

Can you tell me where I might find my friend and companion
He looks a little different from anything you've seen
He likes to beat the bass drum for justice and salvation
He's got the brains of Einstein and the bod of Mister Clean

He's a lightnin' flash who'll make the dash from one coast to the other
To stop a crime or lend a dime or help his aging mother
Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out Captain America's our man
Captain America's our man

By: Jimmy Buffett
1971
It's the ways of her father
If she's gonna change she hasn't done it yet
And the desert is calling to me
Run before the final trap is set
All roads lead to the city
Where the dudes and the dykes all look the same
Lady lays out the pattern
With the parts of her body that seem tame
Death valley lives and Tracy isn't sure what really gives

Act like a child and I'll respond with my well-rehearsed farewell
Quoting the verse that you bought but weren't quite prepared to sell
Saying I think I love you
Maybe I care
It's not fair
Death valley lives and Tracy isn't sure what really gives

And it's a sore spot when the room's burning hot
And the desert air just cannot bring you down
Still the bed's warm but a cold arm
Keeps me floating inches off the ground
Death valley lives and Tracy isn't sure what really gives

Go paint your toes wipe you nose and then come to say goodbye
And all along tell yourself I am wrong if I try
Crying sorry it's over
I'm not to blame
What a game
Death valley lives now I'm not even sure what really gives

By: Jimmy Buffett, Buzz Cason
1970
Why is he cussin' and callin' disgustin'
The city that is now his home
He never smiles or keeps up with styles
He is black and he is all alone
And you ask why he's this way
Well brother you're too blind to see
It's cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me

Get out of the street don't get high on my beat
Go on home the policeman warns
Just 'cause you're poor why do you declare war
I can't help the way that you were born
Why are they holdin' him down
He's spending his life on his knees
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me

Chorus:
Got to help Ellis
Got to help Ellis
You know we got to help Ellis Ellis Dee
Try and help Ellis you and me
Got to get to Ellis hear his plea
Try and help Ellis get free

Ellis got hooked, he got booked and he shook
In his cold little shivery cell
While out on the street in that same funky beat
Mister pusher was doing well
And Ellis Junior cries tears his daddy can't see
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me

Chorus:
Got to help Ellis
Got to help Ellis
You know we got to help Ellis Ellis Dee
Try and help Ellis you and me
Got to get to Ellis hear his plea
Try and help Ellis get free

'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
No Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me

I have watched as the sun went down
I have crashed as the room spun around
Now she's gone, she can't be found

And I'm down where I've been before
Sat and watched as she bolts out the door
Can't explain why the woman's sore
It's gonna rain some more

Chorus:
Somebody told me the last word they heard her say was England
Somebody said that she mentioned the airline and the fare
Now I wonder if's she's there

'Cause she took every cent of mine
Paid it all to the Pan Am line
Though she's gone, I hope she's fine
Fly love of mine

Chorus:
Somebody told me the last word they heard her say was England
Somebody said that she mentioned the airline and the fare
Now I wonder if's she's there

So tally-ho
Jolly good show
My woman's gone to England

In the shelter
In the mornin' as the sun was brightly gleaming
I heard her crying out, "What is it all about?
I just don't know, but I can't go back home."

Lonely princess
All the days out on your own are growing empty
Nothing is going well
If you could only tell them how you feel
They're too real to understand

Too many trite expressions
Ending in forced rejections long ago
Too many innocent faces
Too many far out places something's wrong
Let me tell you that something's wrong
It's been that way so long, and it's a shame

On the street car
To the city where she knows that she might lose it all
Riding for just a dime, takin' her own sweet time
And knowing well this could be her final fall

Past the boutique
Down the alley to the river, people pass her by
Sits on the big gray rocks, takes off her boots and socks
And knowing what she will do next just starts to cry

Too many small suggestions
Endin' in angry questions from her dad
Too many T.V. dinners
And everyone loves a winner, but she was lost
No one knows the trials she had

In the shelter
In the mornin' as the sun was brightly gleaming
I heard her crying out, "What is it all about?
I just don't know, but I can't go back home."

Lord, I just don't know, but I can't go back home.

Did ya ever just wanna lay down, tell the world ya had enough.
Did ya ever wanna drop out, when the goin' got a little bit rough.
Have you ever walked the sidewalks hungry,
Have you ever really had the blues?
So now you wanna see how the other half lived,
Well brother what ya got to lose?
Whatcha got to lose if you leave your home
And you never think think of ever goin' back.
Your fat(er's making money for the good of the country
And your moma's out bettin' at the track.
Camptown ladies sing them songs, doo-daa, doo-daa,
And now you're gonna let your hair grow long
Get a little pad up town.
Throw away your checkbook and all your credit cards
And use your wits to get around.
And you think it's gonna make you happy,
See your story in the evening new.
If you know it's just a game of tryin' to point the blame,
Brother whatcha got to lose?

Hey, lonely Rockefeller Square,
The underground world don't fit a millionaire.
Hey, Rocky, whatcha gonna do,
First time you ever had the pressure on you.
Hey, Rock when the rockin' and t(e bombin' is through
There'll still be a piece of daddy's kingdom for you.

Now Rocky ya sure hurt ya moma,
And your daddy got an ulcer over you.
With t(e stock market shot and the war still hot
It sure was a cruel thing to do.
So don't cry boy.

Hey, lonely Rockefeller Square
The underground life don't fit a millionaire.
Hey, Rocky, whatcha gonna do?
First time you ever had the pressure on you.
Hey, Rock when the rockin' and the bombin' is through
There'll still be a piece of daddy's kingdom for you.

Money to pay, money today, don't ya go gay, Rocky better pray.
Money today, money to pay, don't ya go gay, Rocky better pray.
x2

I never used to miss the chance
To climb upon his knee
Listen to the many tales
Of life upon the sea

We'd go sailin' back on barkentines
An' talk of things he did
Tomorrow just a day away
For the captain and the kid

His world had gone from sailin' ships
To rakin' mom's backyard
He never could adjust to land
Although he tried so hard

We both were growin' older then
Wiser with our years
That's when I came to understand
The course his heart still steered

He died about a month ago
While winter filled the air
And though I cried I was so proud
To love a man so rare

He's somewhere on the ocean now
A place he outta be
With one hand on the starboard rail
He's wavin' back at me

I never used to miss the chance
To climb upon his knee
Listen to his many tales
Of life upon the sea

We'd go sailin' back on barkentines
Talk of things he did
The world was just a day away
For the captain and the kid

For the captain
And this kid

By: Jimmy Buffett
1971
Chorus:
It's a hell of a time to be thinking about heaven
Didn't you forget the golden rule
You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor
But he's a little smart for you to fool

You complain how you forgets the gospel
You remind them seek and you shall find
Maybe youth will have a time for seeking
After they clean up what you left behind

Chorus:
'Cause it's a hell of a time to be thinking about heaven
Didn't you forget the golden rule
You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor
But he's a little smart for you to fool

You were right there when the plate was passed last Sunday
That's the second time you've been to church all year
Could you really call yourself a christian
If charity cost half as much as beer
Hey

You pray a little more as you grow older
You get religion as your hair turns gray
But you don't need to worry about hereafter
Just worry what you're going to do today

Chorus:
'Cause it's a hell of a time to be thinking about heaven
Didn't you forget the golden rule
You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor
But he's a little smart for you to fool
Yes my friend I think you've blown your cool
Hey

The tour bus passed here yesterday
Exciting all the fools who pay
To see the naked lady in our yard

The hang out gang is back in town
Rumor has it going 'round they brought back
Four new groupies and a St. Bernard

We're peaceful and abiding cats some call Gypsies
Some call brats but bare feet don't tear streets up like their bus

Chorus:
All we was doing' was a hangin' and little Koochie was sangin'
Mama I'm guilty of a hangin' out
I know it's a shabby old building but after all ain't we God's children
And Lord it's a good place for hangin' out

The fast approachin' local heat was poundin' out the southwest beat
When they came upon Koochie in our yard
She smiled sir I meant no harm just a little suntan on my arm
They wound up takin' in our St. Bernard
It didn't have a tag y'all

Chorus:
All we was doing' was a hangin' and little Koochie was sangin'
Mama I'm guilty of a hangin' out
I know it's a shabby old building but after all ain't we God's children
And Lord it's a good place for hangin' out

Now you hang with me and I'll hang with you and we'll hang out
'Til we both turn blue mama I'm guilty of a hangin' out

Chorus:
All we was doing' was a hangin' and little Koochie kept sangin'
Mama I'm guilty of a hangin' out
I know it's a shabby old building but after all ain't we God's children
And Lord it's a good place for hangin' out

All we was doin' was a hangin' and little Koochie kept sangin'
Mama I'm guilty of a hangin' out

(Spoken)
"Yeah, they moved up there about a month ago.
Fixed up that little cabin on the ridge.
They really them long hairs?
Well, Homer seen 'em. Homer seen how long it was.
Still reckon I seen it. They a bunch of weirdos.
One of them had a little instrument looked like a mandolin.
Why Lord, they might freeze to death up there this winter.
Well. Homer, turn that radio down."

I didn't know we were at war
I've been away so long
Trying to help once lost men
Distinguish right from wrong
I didn't know we'd killed the men
Our leaders proud and strong
The situation's changed my friend
I've been away too long

I taught my friends
How we had gained respect for every man
And freedom flowed like jungle streams
While peace embraced the land
I told them how we'd learned to change
Our sword blades into plows
I told them they should learn from us
What should I tell them now

Chorus:
'Cause I didn't know we were at war
I've been away so long
Trying to help once lost men
Distinguish right from wrong

The jungle silence shut them off
From civilized mankind
Their nakedness was no disgrace
No censors could I find
The population lived in peace
All brothers on their own
And now that I have seen the mess
I don't think I'll go home

Chorus:
'Cause I didn't know we were at war
I've been

Straight-laced leather-faced he rolled
In like he owned the two-bit town
Dollar bills bulging from his bell-bottomed jeans
The population they gathered 'round
Nothing this exciting since a fertilizer truck
Blew a front tire and landed in the creek
Everybody talkin' everybody strainin'
Tryin' to get a little peek

Chorus:
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free

Payin' for the gas he wickedly shouted thanks
And continued on his journey all once again
Just about the time a siren fast-approached and
The pot bellied sheriff he whizzed right in
With his self inflicted grammar started shoutin'
Accusations at the long haired greasy looking ape
While a local D.J. from the fifty watt station got
The whole damn thing on tape

Chorus:
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free

The holy roller preacher told the eager congregation
That the devil had passed right through their nest
But the teenage girls with their locks in curls were
A talkin' 'bout that hair upon his chest
Now the kids got their cookies while the preacher
Saved some souls and the story spread to everyone in sight
Commotion was the word and everybody heard
He was gone before the night

Chorus:
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free

As large as life she stood there
Kissed my cheek and called my old nickname
And though several years had passed
Both of us still looked quite the same
I said hi relaxed a bit
Then asked her how she'd been all these years
She told me she was feeling fine
Came to see a friend who lived up here

Told me she had finished school
And then went on to college for a year
I asked if she had married
Slowly down her cheek there came a tear
She said just an itchy eye
It must be the weather way up here
Told her I can't stand the cold
It freezes me and I can't feel my ears

We talked a bit about Mobile
And thought about how it has never changed
I told her I was a comin' home
To spend some time and hoped it wouldn't rain
She asked if she could see me then
And we could spend some time now and then
Because I lived so far away
Was still no chance why we could not be friends

I drove her to the waiting plane
Watched that big jet streaking through the sky
Thought about the sad young girl
And the time that I just saw her cry
That flame must still be burning bright
I think I'll catch a later flight today
It's time for me to go on home
And spend a day or two down by the bay

Down to the Banana Republics
Down to the tropical sun
Go the expatriated Americans
Hopin' to find some fun

Some of them go for the sailing
Called by the lure of the sea
Tryin' to find what is ailing
Living in the land of the free
Some of them are running from lovers
Leaving no forward address
Some of them are running tons of ganja
Some are running from the IRS

Late at night you will find them
In the cheap hotels and bars
Hustling the senoritas
While they dance beneath the stars
Spending those renegade pesos
on a bottle of rum and a lime
Singin give me some words I can dance to
Or a melody that rhymes

First you learn the native customs
Soon a word of Spanish or two
You know that you cannot trust them
Because they know they can't trust you

Expatriated Americans feelin' so all alone
Telling themselves the same lies
that they told themselves back home

Down to the Banana Republics
Things aren't as warm as they seem
None of the natives are buying
any second hand American dreams

Late at night you will find them
In the cheap hotels and bars
Hustling the senoritas
while they dance beneath the stars
Spending those renegade pesos
On a bottle of rum and a lime
Singing give me some words I can dance to
Or a melody that rhymes

Down to the Banana Republics
Down to the tropical sun
Go the expatriated Americans
Hopin' to find some fun

I took off for a weekend last month
Just to try and recall the whole year
All of the faces and all of the places
Wonderin' where they all disappeared
I didn't ponder the question too long
I was hungry and went out for a bite
Ran into a chum with a bottle of rum
And we wound up drinkin all night

Chorus:
It's these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of our running and all of our cunning
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

Reading departure signs in some big airport
Reminds me of the places I've been
Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure
Makes me want to go back again
If it suddenly ended tomorrow
I could somehow adjust to the fall
Good times and riches and son of a bitches
I've seen more than I can recall

It's these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
Through all of the islands and through all of the hi-lands
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

I think about Paris when I'm high on red wine
I wish I could jump on a plane
So many nights I just dream of the ocean
God I wish I was sailin' again
Oh, yesterday's over my shoulder
So I can't look back for too long
There's just too much to see waiting in front of me
And I know that I just can't go wrong

Chorus:
With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of my running and all of my cunning
If I couldn't laugh I just would go insane
If we couldn't laugh we just would go insane
If we weren't all crazy we would go insane

In the shelter
In the mornin' as the sun was brightly gleaming
I heard her crying out, "What is it all about?
I just don't know, but I can't go back home."

Lonely princess
All the days out on your own are growing empty
Nothing is going well
If you could only tell them how you feel
They're too real to understand

Too many trite expressions
Ending in forced rejections long ago
Too many innocent faces
Too many far out places something's wrong
Let me tell you that something's wrong
It's been that way so long, and it's a shame

On the street car
To the city where she knows that she might lose it all
Riding for just a dime, takin' her own sweet time
And knowing well this could be her final fall

Past the boutique
Down the alley to the river, people pass her by
Sits on the big gray rocks, takes off her boots and socks
And knowing what she will do next just starts to cry

Too many small suggestions
Endin' in angry questions from her dad
Too many T.V. dinners
And everyone loves a winner, but she was lost
No one knows the trials she had

In the shelter
In the mornin' as the sun was brightly gleaming
I heard her crying out, "What is it all about?
I just don't know, but I can't go back home."

Lord, I just don't know, but I can't go back home.

By: Jimmy Buffett
1977
Now what would they do if I just sailed away
Who the hell really compelled me to leave today
Runnin' low on stories of what made it a ball
What would they do if I made no landfall

I lived half my life in an eight by five room
Just crusin' to the sound of the big diesel boom
It's not close quarters that would make me snap
It's just dealing with the daily unadulterated crap

Chorus:
Sail away, for a month at a time
Sail away, I've got to restart my mind
And you'll find me back at it again

Oh, I love the smell of fresh snapper fried light
What you say pouilly-fusse to round out the night
The mid-morning watch is the best time to look
Oh, what would they do if I wrote the big book

'Cause I've seen incredible things in my years
Some days were laughter and others were tears
If I had it all to do over again
I'd just get myself drunk and I'd jump right back in

Chorus:
Sail away, that's the way I survive
Sail away, that's just no shuck and jive
It just makes my whole life come alive

The wind whistles through the cold riggin' at night
Crazy crowds boogie to the sounds and the lights
Bums down in Capo's he's just havin' a ball
What would he do on another landfall
What would they do if I made no landfall
Oh, what would they do if I flew to Nepal
What would I do if I met Lucille Ball
I'm tryin' to make a little sense of it all
Just tryin' to make a little sense of it all

By: Johnathan Baham
1977
Drink it up, this one's for you
It's been a lovely cruise
I'm sorry it's ending, oh it's sad, but it's true
Honey, it's been a lovely cruise

Chorus:
These moments we're left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
There's wind in our hair and there's water in our shoes
Honey, it's been a lovely cruise

-- Spoken: "So let's cruise darlin'"

Chorus:
Ohhh, these moments we're left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
And those harbor lights, lord, they're coming into view
We'll bid our farewells much too soon
So drink it up, this one's for you
Honey, it's been a lovely cruise
Yeah baby, it's been a lovely cruise
Oh darlin', it's been a lovely cruise

Nibblin' on sponge cake,
watchin' the sun bake;
All of those tourists covered with oil.
Strummin' my six string on my front porch swing.
Smell those shrimp--They're beginnin' to boil.

Wastin' away again in Margaritaville,
Searchin' for my long lost shaker of salt.
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame,
But I know it's nobody's fault.

Don't know the reason,
Stayed here all season
With nothing to show but this brand new tattoo.
But it's a real beauty,
A Mexican cutie;
How it got here
I haven't a clue.

Wastin' away again in Margaritaville,
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt.
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame,
Now I think,-- hell it could be my fault.

I blew out my flip flop,
Stepped on a pop top;
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home.
But there's booze in the blender,
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on.

Wastin' away again in Margaritaville
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt.
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame,
But I know, it's my own damn fault.
Yes, some people claim that there's a woman to blame
And I know it's my own damn fault.

I guess it all blew up in missoula
There just was no other way
After months of goin' crazy, there was nothin' left to say
But when the dust had finally settled
And the air had quickly cleared
Whoa, things were better off than I had feared

Chorus:
And I, miss you so badly, girl I love you madly
Feelin' so sad now since I been gone, gone, gone
It gets quite confusin', it seems that I'm losin'
Track of the long days since I been home

We're stayin' in a holiday inn full of surgeons
I guess they meet there once a year
They exchange physician's stories
And get drunk on tuborg beer
Then they're off to catch a stripper
With their eyes glued to her "g"
But I don't think that I would ever let 'em cut on me

Chorus:
And I, miss you so badly, girl I love you madly
I think I've been had though for stayin' so long, long, long
And i'm, just watchin' the gong show, waitin' for Zorro
Losin' the long days since I been home

I got a head full of feelin' higher
And an ear full of patsy cline
There is just no one who can touch her
Hell, I'll hang on every line
Oh, crazy how things happen, it's incredible but true
The longer I'm gone the closer I feel to you

Chorus:
And I, miss you so badly, girl I love you madly
I'm feelin' so glad just to be headin' home, home, home
I've been, battlin' motel maids, and chewin' on rolaids
Countin' the hours till I get home
Whoa I been, countin' the hours till I get home

By: Jimmy Buffett
1977
I must look a mess I must admit
But I have been travelling quite a bit
South of the Border
Where the law and order
Is kept by Federales who just grin
And tell you they just want to be your friend

I left for Tampico last July
I jumped off that boat I almost died
There to greet us
Were pretty senoritas
I swore that I would not go home then
All those lovely ladies were my friends
Whoa, those sweet chiquitas they don't pretend

-- Spoken: "Como esta, Capitain..."

That is all I really want to say
I was thrown out of the country yesterday
See I was, drinkin' double
Causin' lots of trouble
When the man looked in the window of the bar and he grinned
And said, "If you come back we just may not be your friend"
"I don't want to see you 'round here again"
"If you come back next time we may not..." (Hidy ho' boys!)

By: Jimmy Buffett
1977
Years grow shorter, not longer
The more you've been on your own
Feelin's for movin' grow stronger
So you wonder why you ever go home
Wonder why you ever go home

People are movin' so quickly
Humor's in need of repair
Same occupations and same obligations
They've really go nothing to share
Like drivin' around with no spare

River gets deeper not shallow
The further you move down the stream
Wonderin' if I can keep her
As I race to catch up with my dreams
How they shine and glitter and gleam

Years grow shorter, not longer
The more you've been on your own
Feelin's for movin' grow stronger
So you wonder why you ever go home
Wonder why you ever go home
You wonder why you ever go home

By: Jimmy Buffett
1970
Sittin' on a pocket full of hard earned wages
Lookin' at the world through magazine pages
I heard a lot about the mountains and the Colorado range
Made this stop for personal reasons
Didn't know I'd catch the changin' of the seasons
Winter dictates everything from frost to naked trees

Chorus:
I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
I've walked this ground from town to town
Just to finally call it mine

Lookin' for the cloud with a styrofoam lining
Hopin' that the sun will keep on shinin'
Leading me to distant peace that waits so patiently
Need a little love to try some givin'
Try a little love and then start livin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong

Chorus:
I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
I've walked this ground from town to town
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine

Sittin' on a pocket full of hard earned wages
Lookin' at the world through magazine pages
I heard a lot about the mountains and the Colorado range
Need a little time to try some livin'
Try a little love and then start givin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong

I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
Where God and trees create the breeze
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine

Can you tell me where I might find my friend and companion
Now he looks a little different from anything you've seen
He likes to beat the bass drum for justice and salvation
He's got the brains of Einstein and the brawn of Mister Clean

He's a lightnin' flash who'll make the dash from one coast to the other
To stop a crime or lend a dime or help his aging mother
Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out Captain America's our man

Now he wears a mask his clothes are weird and some folks call him hokie
But he is hip he just can't dig the okie from Muskogie

Captain will help anyone a friend or a stranger
Now number one without a gun he's bypassed the Lone Ranger
He's a do do good who loves apple pie and kisses little babies
He'll guard you against everything from atom bombs to rabies

Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out Captain America's our man

Can you tell me where I might find my friend and companion
He looks a little different from anything you've seen
He likes to beat the bass drum for justice and salvation
He's got the brains of Einstein and the bod of Mister Clean

He's a lightnin' flash who'll make the dash from one coast to the other
To stop a crime or lend a dime or help his aging mother
Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out Captain America's our man
Captain America's our man

By: Jimmy Buffett, Buzz Cason
1970
Why is he cussin' and callin' disgustin'
The city that is now his home
He never smiles or keeps up with styles
He is black and he is all alone
And you ask why he's this way
Well brother you're too blind to see
It's cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me

Get out of the street don't get high on my beat
Go on home the policeman warns
Just 'cause you're poor why do you declare war
I can't help the way that you were born
Why are they holdin' him down
He's spending his life on his knees
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me

Chorus:
Got to help Ellis
Got to help Ellis
You know we got to help Ellis Ellis Dee
Try and help Ellis you and me
Got to get to Ellis hear his plea
Try and help Ellis get free

Ellis got hooked, he got booked and he shook
In his cold little shivery cell
While out on the street in that same funky beat
Mister pusher was doing well
And Ellis Junior cries tears his daddy can't see
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me

Chorus:
Got to help Ellis
Got to help Ellis
You know we got to help Ellis Ellis Dee
Try and help Ellis you and me
Got to get to Ellis hear his plea
Try and help Ellis get free

'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
No Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me

Richard Frost
by: Jimmy Buffett

Richard Frost left Alabama heading west to find his fame
Only got to Oklahoma and that's where he changed his name
Now he plays a little tavern all the drunks say he's a star
Hollywood forgot his number now he's stuck in Kelly's Bar

But is he happy my friend
or does he pretend?
Is every song a routine chore?
Well he every decide
to go and not hide
behind his fear and Kelly's backstage door

Richard Frost draws 90 people and on weekends lines grow long
Singing loud and laughing with them the crowd reacts to every song
Bigger worlds (?) can't help but make you more aware of what you see
Afraid of what's beyond just eyesight keeps the worlds in harmony

La da da da da da
La da da da da da
La da da da da da da da

La da da da da da
La da da da da da
La da da da da da da da

By: Jimmy Buffett
1971
Chorus:
It's a hell of a time to be thinking about heaven
Didn't you forget the golden rule
You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor
But he's a little smart for you to fool

You complain how you forgets the gospel
You remind them seek and you shall find
Maybe youth will have a time for seeking
After they clean up what you left behind

Chorus:
'Cause it's a hell of a time to be thinking about heaven
Didn't you forget the golden rule
You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor
But he's a little smart for you to fool

You were right there when the plate was passed last Sunday
That's the second time you've been to church all year
Could you really call yourself a christian
If charity cost half as much as beer
Hey

You pray a little more as you grow older
You get religion as your hair turns gray
But you don't need to worry about hereafter
Just worry what you're going to do today

Chorus:
'Cause it's a hell of a time to be thinking about heaven
Didn't you forget the golden rule
You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor
But he's a little smart for you to fool
Yes my friend I think you've blown your cool
Hey

Straight-laced leather-faced he rolled
In like he owned the two-bit town
Dollar bills bulging from his bell-bottomed jeans
The population they gathered 'round
Nothing this exciting since a fertilizer truck
Blew a front tire and landed in the creek
Everybody talkin' everybody strainin'
Tryin' to get a little peek

Chorus:
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free

Payin' for the gas he wickedly shouted thanks
And continued on his journey all once again
Just about the time a siren fast-approached and
The pot bellied sheriff he whizzed right in
With his self inflicted grammar started shoutin'
Accusations at the long haired greasy looking ape
While a local D.J. from the fifty watt station got
The whole damn thing on tape

Chorus:
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free

The holy roller preacher told the eager congregation
That the devil had passed right through their nest
But the teenage girls with their locks in curls were
A talkin' 'bout that hair upon his chest
Now the kids got their cookies while the preacher
Saved some souls and the story spread to everyone in sight
Commotion was the word and everybody heard
He was gone before the night

Chorus:
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free

As large as life she stood there
Kissed my cheek and called my old nickname
And though several years had passed
Both of us still looked quite the same
I said hi relaxed a bit
Then asked her how she'd been all these years
She told me she was feeling fine
Came to see a friend who lived up here

Told me she had finished school
And then went on to college for a year
I asked if she had married
Slowly down her cheek there came a tear
She said just an itchy eye
It must be the weather way up here
Told her I can't stand the cold
It freezes me and I can't feel my ears

We talked a bit about Mobile
And thought about how it has never changed
I told her I was a comin' home
To spend some time and hoped it wouldn't rain
She asked if she could see me then
And we could spend some time now and then
Because I lived so far away
Was still no chance why we could not be friends

I drove her to the waiting plane
Watched that big jet streaking through the sky
Thought about the sad young girl
And the time that I just saw her cry
That flame must still be burning bright
I think I'll catch a later flight today
It's time for me to go on home
And spend a day or two down by the bay

By: Rodney Crowell
1981
Down in Louisiana, bayous by and by
Pirogue pole or your natural soul
Keeps you tied to a tree high tide
Beer joint lights come on
And then the crowd starts rollin' in

Chorus:
Pretty soon you got stars on the water
You got stars on the water
It's like stars on the water, let it rain

Beaumont to Biloxi
Sea breeze at your door
Gypsy rains, dang hurricanes
White silver sandy shore
"Blue Light" lounge is shinin'
Way out on the view

Chorus:
It looks just like stars on the water
Just like stars on the water
Just like stars on the water, let it rain

(guitar instrumental)

When it's midnight down in Mobile
Moonbeams on the bay
They come from miles around to dance the jukebox down
And dig the good time sounds they play
All across the harbour
Night lights shinin' in

Chorus:
It looks just like stars on the water
Just like stars on the water
Just like stars on the water, let it rain

Chorus:
Pretty soon ya got stars on the water
You got stars on the water
It's like stars on the water, let it rain

- Notes:
Background Vocals: Timothy B. Schmit

Moonlight and Magnolias
Starlight in your hair
All the world, a dream-come-true
Did it really happen?
Was I really there?
Was I really there with you?

We lived our little drama,
We kissed and a feel a while
And stars fell on Alabama that night.

I can't forget the glamour
Your eyes held onto the light
and stars fell on Alabama last night.

I never planned in my imagination
A situation so heavenly
Our very land that no one else could enter
and in the center just you and me

Hear my heart beat like a hammer
My arms wrapped around you tight
And stars fell on Alabama last night.

I never planned in my imagination
A situation so heavenly
Our very land that no one else could enter
And in the center just you and me

Hear my heart beat like a hammer
My arms wound around you tight
A star fell on Alabama last night

((One more time boys))

Yes we lived our little drama
We kissed on the dune so what
And stars fell on Alabama last night.

Boomerang Love
By: Jimmy Buffett
1989
Hole in the wind behind the island
Big blue hole in the middle of my heart
I can't forget the time we spent together
I can't remember how long
Long we've been apart

Chorus:
Riding on a boomerang love circling fast
Hard to see in a sky so vast
Laugh till you cry, cry till you smile
Up and down all around
Boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang love
Boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang love

We both know we live in different orbits
Different islands different worlds
Though we really are the same
I'm just glad, glad we started talking
Finally realize no one is to blame

Chorus:
Riding on a boomerang love can't let go
Running fast, moving slow
What's the right way, who is to say
Tension and suspension
On a boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang love
Boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang love

Big blue hole out in the ocean
Where I dive straight down until I cannot see
Feel my way through a bevy of solutions
There I realize the answer is in me

Gettin' off of this boomerang love, comin' up for air
I want to do what's right, I want to do what's fair
Come what may we'll find a way
No more tension or suspension
No more boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang love
No more boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang love
No more boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang love

Boomerang, boomerang, boomerang, boomerang love
Oh...

Don't Bug Me
By: Jimmy Buffett, Michael Utley, Jay Oliver
1990

Don't bug Me
Don't mug me
I'm better left alone
Let me twirl
In my world
Out in the wild unknown

Night Crawlin'
Free Fallin'
Just don't get in my way
Don't squish me
Or death wish me
That's all I have to say

I can spin a web
I can spin a tale
(I can spin a tale)
Leave me in the jungle
Take me to the town
Right side up or upside down

I'm fakey
Real Flakey
8 legs and one pea brain
So don't bug me
Don't mug me
Just try and act humane

I can cover tracks
And never leave a trail
(I don't leave a trail)
Leave me in the jungle
Take me to the town
Right side up or upside down

Don't bug me
Don't mug me
I'm better left alone
Let me twirl
In my world
Out in the wild unknown
Don't bug me
Don't mug me
That's all I have to say.