Tape From California

Who's that coming down the road

A sailor from the sea

He looks a lot like me

I'd know him anywhere, had to stare

Feathers at his fingertips

A halo 'round his spine

He must have lost his mind

He should be put away, right away

In the corner of the night

He handed me his water pipe

His eyes were searching

Deep inside my head, here's what he said

Sorry, I can't stop and talk now

I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

But I'll send you a tape from California

New York City has exploded

And it's crashed upon my head

I dove beneath the bed

Fighting, biting nails, turning pale

The landlord's at my window

And the burglar's at my door

I can't take it anymore

I guess I'll have to fly, it's worth a try

Someone's banging on the wall

But there's no party to recall

The singer of the shadows of his soul

So he's been told

Sorry, I can't stop and talk now

I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

But I'll send you a tape from California

From the mirror of my mantle to the velvet on my bed

Trapped upon a stolen stage, a Barrymore at best

My rhymes are all repeating, my ballads growing blind

Words have turned to water, the women turned to wine

The draft board is debating

If they'd like to take my life

I'd sooner take a wife

And have raise a child or two, wouldn't you?

Peace has turned to poison

And the flag has blown a fuse

Even courage is confused

And now all the brave are in the grave

Century is bending

Have a very happy ending

To the victor go the ashes of the spoil

Seeds in the soil

Sorry, I can't stop and talk now

I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

But I'll send you a tape from California

The flower-power fuller brush man

Is farming out his friends

I stabbed him with my stem

And then I tapped his toes with my rose

He crawled around inside himself

Now he's crawling after me

Dropping acid in my tea

He wants to save his soul, rock and roll

One of us must understand

It's not the drug that makes the man

Then a poster of a movie star walked by

He must have been high

Sorry, I can't stop and talk now

I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

But I'll send you a tape from California

Half the world is crazy and the other half is scared

Madonnas do the minuet for the naked millionaires

The anarchists are rising while we're racing for the moon

It doesn't take a seer to see that the scene is coming soon

So who's that coming down the road

A sailor from the sea

He looks a lot like me

I'd know him anywhere, had to stare

A fire around his fingertips

A song around his spine

He must have found his mind

He should be put away, anyway

Surrounded by the slaughter

Now I'm boarding at the border

When the echoes of my ecstasy appear

Wish I was here

Sorry, I can't stop and talk now

I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

But I'll send you a tape from California