Nevada Fighter (1971)

I was overland tourin’ in my new Ferrari
At just about a hundred and ten
I was on my way home from a sophisticated party
Where I got a little drunk on gin

And as the headlights cast
A glow on the road
I heard a voice inside of me
It said, “You lost the light
Now you’re movin’ through the night
Runnin’ from the grand ennui
Runnin’ from the grand ennui”

Well, I reached in my pocket and I pulled out the omega
That was never one second behind
I knew the horse that I was runnin’ at the southern Talladega
Had won for the twenty-second time

And then the countess I was with
Bent over with a kiss
And put a jeweled hand on my knee
I knew I’d lost the light
And I was movin’ through the night
Runnin’ from the grand ennui
Runnin’ from the grand ennui

[break]
“Oh my!”

Well, that night passed in a blaze of glory
With the countess and the car, both mine
And each day passes with the same old story
But the countess has a brand new line

Yet still at night
I am haunted by the fright
And distant memory
Of the day I lost the light
Movin’ through the night
Runnin’ from the grand ennui, yeah
Runnin’ from the grand ennui

I’ve known for a long time the kind of girl you are
Of a smile that covers teardrops
The way your head yields to your heart
Of things you’ve kept inside that most girls couldn’t bear
I’ve known you for a long time, but I’ve just begun to care

I’ve known of all the heartache, and I’ve known of all the pain
I’ve seen you when the sun shines
And I’ve seen you when it rains
I’ve seen you make a look of love from just an icy stare
I’ve known you for a long time, but I’ve just begun to care

I know I’ve been blind
To not have loved you all this time
But the image of you wasn’t clear
I guess I’ve been standing too near

Oh, it’s taken me a while, but I have finally found
What you are to me, and that’s what really counts
And what you are to me is something we can share
I’ve known you for a long time, but I’ve just begun to care

[break]

Oh, it’s taken me a while, but I have finally found
What you are to me, and that’s what really counts
And what you are to me is something we can share
I’ve known you for a long time, but I’ve just begun to care
Yes, I’ve known you for a long time, but I’ve just begun to care

Slowly into winter goes the ash of life
Wholly independent windows framing time
Downward drops the ridiculing eye so blind
Love has conquered, once again, uneven rhyme

Marie, my sweet Marie
Here I am

Holding on to moments meant for each to share
Grasping at the veils as they began to tear
Wearily, the healing comes to lift the care
Opening your hand and finding mine still there

Marie, my sweet Marie
Here I am

Letting go of a rusty old beginning
Turning to the sun

Easily I give you now the thoughts I can
Gentle reassurance from a gentle man
Toppling the barrier that spoiled the view
Let me offer what I’ve taken back to you

Marie, my sweet Marie
Here I am
Here I am

Oh my lonely world
Only world I see
Oh my wilting world
Tilting world and me

Clinging to a vine of promises
Grown from her nobility
When she and her gentle hand
Were only bound to me

She was only bound
Only bound to me
I was always around
Crawling around on my knees

Tales of time
Slowly set me free
Paths unwind
In lonely harmony

Now I’m holding hands
Folding hands to see
Waving hazy plans
Drifting sands and me

Clinging to a vine of promises
Grown from her nobility
When she and her gentle hand
Were only bound to me
When she and her gentle hand
Were only bound to me

…She was
Lonely world
Only bound
Only world I see
Now I’m…

Facing left
Facing right
Saves the rest
Nevada fights

Left on the desert
Out in the cold
He thought Sam would remember
But he was too old
And the bygone, half-grown, high-flown cyclone rides

Saving day
Saving night
Spends the rest
Nevada fights

Left on the highway
Outside of town
He thought someone would answer
But no one was around
And the bygone, half-grown, high-flown cyclone rides

[break]
“Woo, mama, play it all around town.”

Lonely start
Lonely time
Lonely heart
Nevada dies

Lands of the people
Drying in the sun
Waiting for the promised help
That never seemed to come
And the bygone, half-grown, high-flown cyclone rise

Right in the middle of a ten cent scenery
Shuffled and stacked on a postcard rack
There’s a cute little girl with a Shetland pony
She smiles at me, but I can’t smile back

Cactus Jack drinks coffee black
Tells me it’s my lucky day
Five o’clock in the Texas morning and
I’ve come a long, long way
Five o’clock in the Texas morning and
I’ve come a long, long way

She left me cold on a winter’s mornin’
And cold it’s been for a long, long time
She told me Texas was where’s she’s goin’
And I came lookin’, but she’s so hard to find

Cactus Jack drinks coffee black
Tells me it’s my lucky day
Five o’clock in the Texas morning and
I’ve come a long, long way
Five o’clock in the Texas morning and
I’ve come a long, long way

Oh, I don’t know just where I’ll find her
Maybe the soldier with the suitcase saw her
She just said she was goin’ to Texas for a little while
So I’m lookin’ for a girl with light brown hair
And hazel eyes, and she’s not too pretty but a beautiful smile
She just said, “Well, I’m goin’ to Texas for a little while”

[break]

Cook in the back, he’s gettin’ curious
He asks the waitress where I’m from
She just says, “Well, I’ve never seen him
He’s probably just a California bum”

Cactus Jack, he says, “That’s right”
As I walk out into the light
Five o’clock in the Texas morning and
I’ve got a long, long ride
Five o’clock in the Texas morning and
I’ve got a long, long ride

Outside, the sun is up
And the wind blows me
Like a Dixie cup
Down the highway

See them rolling around
Pledging their love to the ground
Here on the range, I’ll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds

See them rolling along
Pledging their love with a song
Here on the range, I belong
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds

I know
When day is done
That a new world
Awaits at dawn

See them rolling along
Pledging their love with a song
Here on the range, I belong
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds

[break]

I know
When day is done
That a new world
Awaits at dawn

See them rolling along
Pledging their love with a song
Here on the range, I belong
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds

She took my hand
Tried to make me understand
That she would always be there

I looked away
Then she ran away from me today
I’m such a lone, lonely man

Came as a surprise to me
She left me here in misery
Seemed like only yesterday
She made a vow
She’d never go away

She took my hand
Tried to make me understand
That she would always be there

I look away
Then she ran away from me today
I’m such a lone, lonely man

Seemed to me like such a sin
For me to love another man’s woman
But I guess I’ll keep on sinnin’
Lovin’ you
’Til my very last day, yeah, yeah

[break]

I looked away
Then she ran away from me today
I’m such a lone, lonely man

First day in August
Last rain was in May
When the rainmaker
Came to Kansas
In the middle of a dusty day
The rainmaker said to the people
“Tell me what you are prepared to pay”
The rainmaker said to the people
“Well, I’ll conjure up a rain today”

Ninety degrees ’neath the trees where it’s shady
Hundred and ten in the hot sun
Heat from the street burn the feet of the ladies
See how they run

Called down the lightnin’
By mystical name
When the rainmaker called on the thunder
It suddenly began to rain
Then the rainmaker passed his hat to the people
But the people all turned away
Then the rainmaker’s eyes and the Kansas skies
Both became a darker gray

[break]

First day in August
Last rain was in May
When the rainmaker
Came to Kansas
In the middle of a dusty day
Rainmaker smiled as he hitched up his wagon
And without a word, he rode away
Then the people of the town heard the sound of his laughter
And they knew the rain had come to stay

Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Rain
Rain
Rain

Rain
Rain
Rain

[instrumental]