If tomorrow never comes I wont give a damn If tomorrow never comes I will not be afraid to meet my maker Just the way that I am You cant prove anything But one thing is true If you can steal from me I can steal from you
Any kind of heaven every body doesn't get in Wont seem like a heaven to me They tell you that the garden of Eden was perfect But you couldn't even eat off the apple tree And for heavens sakes look out for that snake Lying to your woman constantly Adam must have scratched his head Looked up and said Lord this just isn't doing it for me
If tomorrow never comes I wont give a damn If tomorrow never comes I dont want to be afraid To come and meet you just the way that I am I cant do anything im dying too If tomorrow never comes Tonight will have to do
I say I don't ever claim to know whats going on around here I don't even know where i'm from I know where i'm going when I get to where i'm going What i'm doing when I get done You tell me i'm forgiven if I need to be I say permission ought to come that easily I'm piling cores up underneath this apple tree Singing oh lord have mercy on me
If tomorrow never comes And tonight is all I got If tomorrow never comes I don't want to be afraid To come and meet you just the way that i'm not Cant do anything And then you die Judge the judgmental and what am I?
Either way i'm every guy I ever tried not to be I want everything as good as it gets I've learned nothing but that there is another sun rise coming All but one of the times it sets
And if tomorrow never comes Tomorrow never comes If tomorrow never comes Tomorrow never comes If we were all good people We could work in perfect rhythm If worms had daggers Birds wouldn't fuck with them
You can't talk to me like that boss I don't care who you are If you don't want to have to hang your own dry wall Don't push me too far
Boom town work ain't hard to come by Boom town workers are You might be the one running the show but That don't mean you're in charge
I was looking for a job when I found this one Don't need the work like you need the work done You look like you're under pressure I was looking for a job when I met you
I'm sharing a room with two guys over at the motel 6 boss Sending every dime I make here home to my ex-wife Just did two years and 28 days With a little better aim I'd been in there for my life
So you see, broke won't take much getting used to Neither will a barb wire jail house wall Watch what you say to someone with nothing It's almost like having it all
I was looking for a job when I found this one Don't need the work like you need the work done You look like you're under pressure I was already looking for a job two weeks ago when I met you, remember?
You know what I really ought to get is a job like You got, chief. you know. driving around Checking on guys like me. yelling from the window of A pickup truck with the A/C cranked up and your clothes all Nice and clean. yeah that might be nice on the other hand
There's a Coke machine glowin' through the parking lot Call it a room with a view This was the best night of pool that I ever shot I made a lot of money too I was looking for some company In the weekly Scene Seen an ad it just had to be you I hadn't seen you since New Orleans
And I never did figure out where you ran off to I know I looked bad the last time you saw me But lately I been doin' all right I won a tournament last week in Oklahoma City Hustled half of this town tonight I got some cocaine if you want some It's the best that I could find Hey we could just sit here and talk all night If that big ol' guy out in the car don't mind
Like old times Screw off the top on a bottle of wine Living out our own kind of American dream Old times Your goal was always the same as mine You didn't want to throw a fishing line in that old main stream
You know I ain't expecting anybody but you I don't know who this could be at the door But I'm pretty sure that you got a clue And I bet that you've been to this hotel before Put the "you-know-what" In the bathroom but Don't flush it down just yet Put your pager in my suitcase I'll get the window You light a cigarette It'll be like
Old times Just like the old times Living out our own kind of American dream Old times Your goal was always the same as mine You didn't want to throw a fishing line in that old main stream
No sir officer you don't understand We're just two old friends drinkin' wine I'm sure she is but that's not all she is She's also an old friend of mine I got her high school picture right here in my wallet, 1982 No sir officer no offense taken You have a good night, too
Good thing we didn't throw this away, baby Turn up that radio I'm pretty sure that cop knew what we were up to I guess he just decided to let us go Don't make such a thing about that picture That was just something I kept Don't get all sentimental on me now, girl You haven't even told me what your new name is yet
Old times Just like the old times Living out our own kind of American dream Old times Your goal was always the same as mine You didn't want to throw a fishing line in that old main stream
An empty house is hard to bear Lonesome's falling everywhere Without you there's no light coming in That lucky dog jumped the fence Ain't seen him around here since And I don't guess I ever will again It didn't bother me any, I was good to that dog And just like you I'm gonna have to learn to let him go
Leaving me was one thing Carla Why'd you have to leave so slow?
Slow and shifty backing out You were trying to fill my head with doubt You nearly had me walking out on you About the oldest trick to be Playing on someone as old as me That can not be the best that you can do It didn't bother me any when he come around I just wish I hadn't been the last guy in town to know
I didn't mind you walking away What hurt was how you walked so slow You know, you go
You know that was so underhanded Grabbing him just as you landed After holding me the whole time you fell You tell me he'll be good to you Who wouldn't be? What else is new? And now all that I can do is wish you well It wouldn't have bothered me any If you left me when you wanted to But you just had to wait until you had some place better to go
Leaving me was one thing Carla Why'd you have to leave so slow? I didn't mind you walking away What hurt was how you walked so slow
Some guy said to some other guy behind closed doors "Don't even know how long I've been awake anymore I know what we're out of and you do too Look around, we're down to nothing but me and you We lost everything we stole, everything we had It's not that bad, though, it's not that bad"
"We'll be buying all our shit back when your cousin gets out That's only going to be a couple weeks from now You know what I'm thinking 'cause you're thinking it too It was harder to imagine than it was to do In spite of all of your worry last night went okay That man just threw his money up and ran away"
"Did, did we get arrested? No, we did not We didn't shoot anyone, didn't get shot Didn't hurt anyone, at least not a lot And we got what we wanted, we got what we wanted"
"You're right I could kill someone, I don't care But that's ain't the way it's going down tonight, I swear We'll just walk on up to Highland Street behind the bar In the back through the alley where they park the cars It will go down just as easy as it did last night We'll be back here in an hour hidin' out of sight"
"Did, did we get arrested? No, we did not We didn't shoot anyone, didn't get shot Didn't hurt anyone, at least not a lot And we got what we wanted [Incomprehensible], we got what we wanted"
"Oh, hey stand right here behind me, buddy, this is the place Hold the blue bandanna up to cover your face Yes, it's loaded but that's only for security I ain't be shootin' anyone that ain't shootin' at me Shut up, I think, I hear somebody coming, man Shut up I think, I hear"
"Run, man, run, run, man, run Only going be two or three weeks from now 'Til your cousin gets out Run, man, run, run, man, run, run, oh, ooh"
Poor Phil Ochs, sad and low Hands in his pockets, wonderin' where to go Watching those tail lights leave him behind Thrown for the limousine for speaking his mind Like a red-eyed photo into a garbage can At the corner of hero and also ran A fragile heart skipped a fragile beat It's warm in the limousine, cold on the streets of
Thin wild mercury And gold lame Where things will go your way Or they won't Thin wind mercury And gold lame You know what they say Or you don't
It was all over some new Dylan song That Phil had the nerve to say sounded wrong Dylan stopped the car, words shook like a fist "Phil, you ain't a writer, you're a journalist" Death of a rebel, twist of fate If he ever thought better, he thought too late Poor Phil Ochs, he slipped through the cracks Judas went electric and he never looked back on
Thin wild mercury And gold lame Where things will go your way Or they won't Thin wild mercury And gold lame You konw what they say Or you don't No, you don't No, you don't
Helicopters over the house again We got the projects two or three blocks from here They pull the kids over for driving while African And the ones with the warrants always run in fear
So, I sit here, waiting for the coast to clear Wishing once again I had a gun around here Turn on the news and what do I hear Some kid shot the bank up on Gallatin road
Ran away from the cops while he was trying to reload He beat them up to Eastland street on feet Now, he's probably reloaded and running down my street Better turn the alarm on and lock myself in
Helicopters over the house again
Sometimes, you rise above it Sometimes, you sneak below Somewhere in between believing in Heaven And facing the Devil you know
Poor kid probably never had a chance to give a fuck Wouldn't know good luck from a debutant He's gotta find a way to be Steve McNair or young buck Or it's tough luck looking for a prison to haunt
And you can fuck getting any kind of job you want Unless you really want to work in a fast food restaurant And who wants to do that? Do you want to do that? I wouldn't trade that for my crooked hat
Or my gang or my gun or my waist full of pagers For a job deep frying shit, for richer teen agers If that's where it's at and no one's gonna help How you gonna blame a man for helping himself? There's a war going on that the poor can't win
Helicopters over the house again
Sometimes, you rise above it Sometimes, you sneak below Somewhere in between believing in Heaven And facing the Devil you know
Black and white cops shining lights in the bushes Can't see how this kid is gonna get very far Unless he finds a way to make it back over to Barry street And he can't do that unless he steals a car
Man, the way things are, they just don't seem right All the white people talking 'bout the hope and the light There ain't no hope in Sam Levy just guns and drugs We ain't building bridges, we're just training thugs
Then I hear a terrifying kick at my back door And in comes this kid, I say, "Hey I've seen this kid before" I see him all the time at that bar on woodland street Now, he's bleeding in my kitchen, tracking mud off his feet
And he's looking at me like I'll either help him or die Until he sees in my eyes that I'm on his side I hand him my keys, I say, you better move fast There's a J in the ashtray and plenty of gas
He throws me the cash and says I'll be back for this I say, yeah, well, don't be surprised if there's a little bit of it missing His gold teeth glistened with a big old grin He said we'll talk about that when I see you again
He shook my hand, I shook his back I felt like I was about to have a heart attack Until he finally drove away, I thought "Goddamn"
Helicopters over the house again
Sometimes, you rise above it Sometimes, you sneak below Somewhere in between believing in Heaven And facing the devil you know
I can't dance, but I feel like dancin' Not with anyone, only you You're as true as love can be You're all that matters to me
Out in the rain, lost as I was I said "You think it'll ever stop" You said "It always does" And you were right, look and see You're all that matters to me
[Chorus] All that matters, all that matters You're all that matters to me I don't care if I know Where we come from or where we'll go You're all that matters to me
You hear that song, that song is our song And so is the next song I'm as certain as I'm ever going to be I don't care about this crowd Let 'em laugh I'm not proud Nor am I ashamed for anyone to see
Happy new year everybody Happy birthday country joe I resolve to do like I always do There's an overweight man with an overweight woman on a sofa just watching tv Hes yelling his opinion at the television she looks up from her food and agrees They got two bumper stickers on there pick up truck They keep the pick up parked outside One sticker says "what would Jesus do?" The other bumper sticker says "power of pride" I was thumbing through the stations on my own television When I came across a guy on the religious station Singing "somebody's coming" sounding whiter than me somehow Wow It took me back in time through dwindling joy To when I was such a guilt ridden catholic boy I'm evangelical agnostic now
I don't know what we're doing here You don't "KNOW" what were doing here Now Christians don't walk out on me just yet You know whose name I'm yelling as I'm clutching my chest The one my dad told me to and his told him to And I probably pray as much or more than you do Believe? shit, every word I sing But believing and knowing, those are two different things And if your trying to change the way a strangers life will have to go I believe this is where I wanna stick to what I know Which is nothing you know, nothing for sure so Just chill til the next episode Now back to the lecture at hand Seems like my neighbor wants to kill what he cant understand I say we cant just kill what we dont understand But I turn on my tv and see that oh yes we can We can and we have since then dawn of man For countless gods whose only real seeming plan Was to see to it that clinging to life was our fate And you gotta admit that life's pretty great But Can we deny that its killing us? Ill be here all week Happy new year everybody Happy birthday country Joe I resolve to do like I always do I ain't hurtin' you If life is anything its embarrassing A rusty nail through a careless shoe You cant help but sit around and wonder sometimes Why there's never anything the poor nail can do Or think about how unfair it is That the shoe is only going where it has to too If you ain't the dumb kid out running around You kinda gotta do what your born to do Hey
Happy new year everybody Specifically happy birthday to you country joe I resolve to do like I always do And I only ever make it a day or two
