Warren Zevon

I've got a bird that whistles
I've got a bird that sings
I've got a bird that . . . I've got a bird . . .
I'm worried about that bird
And I worry about everything
And I worry when I see my subjects
Bow down to the Worrier King

Well. I'm hiding from the mailman
And I hate to hear the telephone ring
I'm hiding from the mailman
And I hate to hear the telephone
Worried about the women
And I worry about everything
And I worry when I see my subjects
Bow down to the Worrier King

I've been up all night
Wondering what November's gonna bring
Worried about my country
And I worry about everything
And I worry when I see my subjects
Bow down to the Worrier King
Worried about my bird
And I worry about everything
And I worry when I see my subjects
Bow down to the Worrier King

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of SoHo in the rain
He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fork's
For to get a big dish of beef chow mein

Refrain:
Ah-wooo, Werewolves of London
Ah-wooo
(x2)

You hear him howling around your kitchen door
Better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again

(Refrain)
Hunh!

He's the hairy-handed gent
Who ran amok in Kent
Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair
You better stay away from him
He'll rip your lungs out, Jim
Hunh, I'd like to meet his tailor

(Refrain)
I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doin' the Werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney Jr. walking with the Queen
Doin' the Werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinkin' a pina colada at Trader Vic's
His hair was perfect
Ah-wooo
Werewolves of London
Hunh, draw blood
Ah-wooo
Werewolves of London

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of SoHo in the rain
He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fork's
For to get a big dish of beef chow mein

Refrain:
Ah-wooo, Werewolves of London
Ah-wooo
(x2)

You hear him howling around your kitchen door
Better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again

(Refrain)
Hunh!

He's the hairy-handed gent
Who ran amok in Kent
Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair
You better stay away from him
He'll rip your lungs out, Jim
Hunh, I'd like to meet his tailor

(Refrain)
I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doin' the Werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney Jr. walking with the Queen
Doin' the Werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinkin' a pina colada at Trader Vic's
His hair was perfect
Ah-wooo
Werewolves of London
Hunh, draw blood
Ah-wooo
Werewolves of London

I am wanted dead or alive
I'm wanted everywhere
I've got to survive
They say I am a violent man
Only trying to do the best I can
Dig it?

I am wanted dead or alive
Fifteen states I've got to survive
I am wanted dead or alive
I'm a new kind of man
I've got to survive

Running a long way

I am wanted dead or alive
I'm wanted everywhere
I've got to survive
Now all I'm trying to do
Is find a peaceful place
But they say I have an outlaw face
My lord, I have an outlaw's face
I have an outlaw's face
They say I have an outlaw's face
My, my, yes I have an outlaw's face
I have an outlaw's face
I have an outlaw's face
Oh my lord, I have an outlaw's face
Sweet God almighty, I have an outlaw's face

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria crying
Late last night I heard the news
That Veracruz was dying
Veracruz was dying

Someone called Maria's name
I swear it was my father's voice
Saying, "If you stay you'll all be slain
You must leave now - you have no choice
Take the servants and ride west
Keep the child close to your chest
When the American troops withdraw
Let Zapata take the rest"

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria calling
Saying, "Veracruz is dying
And Cuernavaca's falling"

Aquel dia yo jure (On that day I swore
Hacia el puerto volvere To the port I will return
Aunque el destino cambio mi vida Even though destiny changed my life
En Veracruz morire In Veracruz I shall die
Aquel dia yo jure On that day I swore)

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard them in the harbor
Saying, "Veracruz is dying

Oh Tule, it's on account of you that I've been weeping
Here behind my hand
It's lonesome in my heart's land, as the sands of the desert

Oh, tell me, why was it always you, who, through the changes
You, who always sang and played while the green vespers rang
In the heart of the hillside

It's a sad song we always seem to be singing to each other
You and me, sweet and slightly out of key
Like the sound of a running down calliope

Oh Tule, it's once I was your knight in golden armor
With the sun behind my hair
My music filled the air with symbols and lightning

Oh Tule, now can't you see I'm changing like the seasons?
My hair is growing dark
And there's no room left in the ark for a lark with a broken wing

It's a sad song we always seem to be singing to each other
And a child's voice, so tender and out of tune
Keeps a'praying I'll be singing home soon

Oh Tule, it's on account of you that I'll be leaving
'Cross the deep salt sea
Whatever wild worlds I may see, will be empty without you

It's a sad song we always seem to be singing to each other
And a child's voice, so tender and out of tune
Keeps a'praying I'll be singing home soon

Time marches on
Time stands still
Time on my hands
Time to kill
Blood on my hands
And my hands in the till
Down at the 7-11
Gentle rain
Falls on me
All life folds back
Into the sea
We contemplate eternity
Beneath the vast indifference of heaven

The past seems realer than the present to me now
I've got memories to last me
When the sky is gray
The way it is today
I remember the times when I was happy

Same old sun
Same old moon
It's the same old story
Same old tune
They all say
Someday soon
My sins will all be forgiven
Gentle rain
Falls on me
All life folds back
Into the sea
We contemplate eternity
Beneath the vast indifference of heaven

They say "Everything's all right"
They say "Better days are near"
They tell us "These are the good times"
But they don't live around here
Billy and Christie don't
Bruce and Patti don't
They don't live around here

I had a girl
Now she's gone
She left town
Town burned down
Nothing left
But the sound
Of the front door closing forever

Gentle rain
Falls on me
All life folds back
Into the sea
We contemplate eternity
Beneath the vast indifference of heaven

How're you going to make your way in the world
When you weren't cut out for working
When your fingers are slender and frail
How're you going to get around
In this sleazy bedroom town
If you don't put yourself up for sale

Where will you go with your scarves and your miracles
Who's gonna know who you are
Drugs and wine and flattering light
You must try it again till you get it right
Maybe you'll end up with someone different every night

All these people with no home to go home to
They'd all like to spend the night with you
Maybe I would, too

But tell me
How're you going to make your way in the world, woman
When you weren't cut out for working
And you just can't concentrate
And you always show up late

You said you were an actress
Yes, I believe you are
I thought you'd be a star
So I drank up all the money,
Yes, I drank up all the money,
With these phonies in this Hollywood bar,
These friends of mine in this Hollywood bar

Loneliness and frustration
We both came down with an acute case
And when the lights came up at two
I caught a glimpse of you
And your face looked like something
Death brought with him in his suitcase

Your pretty face
It looked so wasted
Another pretty face
Devastated
The French Inhaler
He stamped and mailed her
"So long, Norman"
She said, "So long, Norman"

Mama, where's your pretty little girl tonight
Trying to run before she can walk - that's right
She's growing up
She has a young man waiting
She's growing up
She has a young man waiting
Wide-eyes
She'll be street-wise
To the lies
And the jive talk
She'll find true love
And tenderness on the block

Daddy, don't you ask her when she's coming in
And when she's home don't ask her where she's been
She's going out
She has a young man waiting
She's going out
Can't keep her young man waiting
She'll be okay
Let her have her day
It's a long way
It's a long walk
She'll find true love
And tenderness on the block

I know how much it hurts to see her go
She has a mind of her own, you know
She's all grown up
She has a young man waiting
She's all grown up
She has a young man waiting
She was wide-eyed
Now she's street-wise
To the lies
And the jive talk
She'll find true love
And tenderness on the block
She'll find true love
And tenderness on the block

I want to live alone in the desert
I want to be like Georgia O'Keefe
I want to live on the Upper East Side
And never go down in the street

Splendid Isolation
I don't need no one
Splendid Isolation

Michael Jackson in Disneyland
Don't have to share it with nobody else
Lock the gates, Goofy, take my hand
And lead me through the World of Self

Splendid Isolation
I don't need no one
Splendid Isolation

Don't want to wake up with no one beside me
Don't want to take up with nobody new
Don't want nobody coming by without calling first
Don't want nothing to do with you

I'm putting tinfoil up on the windows
Lying down in the dark to dream
I don't want to see their faces
I don't want to hear them scream

Splendid Isolation
I don't need no one
Splendid Isolation

Splendid Isolation
I don't need no one
Splendid Isolation

It wasn't the queen of diamonds that I drew first
Instead I got the ace of spades reversed
She quit me
She up and quit me, man-yeah
She quit me
She up and she quit me

It wasn't because I didn't treat her right-no
When dawn had drawn the curtains of the night
She quit me
She up and she quit me, man
She quit me
She up and quit me-yeah

It wasn't because I didn't treat her kind
I wonder who put leaving on her mind
She quit me
She up and she quit me, man
She quit me
She up and quit me-yeah

It wasn't because I couldn't satisfy-no
Now where'd she get the nerve to say goodbye
Oh, she quit me
She up and quit me, man-oh, yeah
She quit me
She up and quit me-yeah

Darkness in the morning
Shadows on the land
Certain individuals
Aren't sticking with the plan

CHORUS
And I'm searching for a heart
Searching everyone
They say love conquers all
You can't start it like a car
You can't stop it with a gun

Leaving in the evening
Traveling at night
Staying inconspicuous
I'm staying out of sight

CHORUS

they tell me love requires a little standing in line
And I've been waiting for you, lover, for a long, long time
I've been pacing the floor
I've been watching the door
Meanwhile I'll keep searching for a heart

Searching high and low for you
Teying to track you down
Certain individuals
Have finally come around

CHORUS

They tell me love requires a little standing in line
And I've been waiting for you, lover, for a long, long time
I've been pacing the floor
I've been watching the door
Meanwhile I'll keep searching for a heart
Searching everyone
They say love conquers all
You can't start it like a car

Roland was a warrior from the land of the midnight sun
With a thompson gun for hire fighting to be done
The deal was made in Denmark on a dark and stormy day
So he set out for Biafra to join the bloody fray

Through '66 and 7 they fought the Congo war
With their fingers on their triggers knee deep in gore
For days and nights they battled, the Bantu to their knees
They killed to earn their living, and to help out the Congolese

Roland the thompson gunner (2x)

His comrades fought beside him, Van Owen and the rest
But of all the thompson gunners, Roland was the best
So the CIA decided they wanted Roland dead
That son of a bitch Van Owen blew off Roland's head

Roland the headless thompson gunner
Norway's son won't stop till he sums up the score
They can still see his headless body stalking through the night
In the muzzle flash of Roland's thompson gun (2x)

Roland searched the continent for the man who done him in
He found him in Mombasa in a barroom drinking gin
Roland aimed his thompson gun, he didn't say a word
But he blew Van Owen's body, from there to Johannesburg

Roland the headless thompson gunner (4x)

The eternal thompson gunner, still wandering through the night
Now it's ten years later, but he still keeps up the fight
In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley
Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's thompson gun and bought it

Roland was a warrior from the land of the midnight sun
With a thompson gun for hire fighting to be done
The deal was made in Denmark on a dark and stormy day
So he set out for Biafra to join the bloody fray

Through '66 and 7 they fought the Congo war
With their fingers on their triggers knee deep in gore
For days and nights they battled, the Bantu to their knees
They killed to earn their living, and to help out the Congolese

Roland the thompson gunner (2x)

His comrades fought beside him, Van Owen and the rest
But of all the thompson gunners, Roland was the best
So the CIA decided they wanted Roland dead
That son of a bitch Van Owen blew off Roland's head

Roland the headless thompson gunner
Norway's son won't stop till he sums up the score
They can still see his headless body stalking through the night
In the muzzle flash of Roland's thompson gun (2x)

Roland searched the continent for the man who done him in
He found him in Mombasa in a barroom drinking gin
Roland aimed his thompson gun, he didn't say a word
But he blew Van Owen's body, from there to Johannesburg

Roland the headless thompson gunner (4x)

The eternal thompson gunner, still wandering through the night
Now it's ten years later, but he still keeps up the fight
In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley
Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's thompson gun and bought it

I'd lay my head on the railroad tracks
And wait for the Double "E"
But the railroad don't run no more
Poor, poor pitiful me

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

Well, I met a girl in West Hollywood
I ain't naming names
She really worked me over good
She was just like Jesse James
She really worked me over good
She was a credit to her gender
She put me through some changes, Lord
Sort of like a Waring blender

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

Well, I met a girl at the Rainbow Bar
She asked me if I'd beat her
She took me back to the Hyatt House
I don't want to talk about it

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

I met a girl from the Vieux Carre`
Down in Yokahama
She picked me up and she'd throw me down
I said, "Where's George Gruel, my road manger and best friend"
"Come on out here George..."
Get up and dance
Get up and dance or I'll kill you and I got the means

Grandpa pissed his pants again
He don't give a damn
Brother Billy has both guns drawn
He ain't been right since Viet Nam

"Sweet Home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

Daddy's doing Sister Sally
Grandma's dying of cancer now
The cattle all have brucellosis
We'll get through somehow

"Sweet Home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

I'm going down to the Dew Drop Inn
See if I can drink enough
There ain't much to country living
Sweat, piss, jizz and blood

"Sweet Home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

Mom and Papa bought a Chickering
Every day I'd sit and play that thing
I practiced hard; it was more than a whim
I played with grim determination, Jim

Someone called Piano Fighter
I'm a holy roller, I'm a real lowrider
Hold me tight, honey, hold me tighter
Then let me go, Piano Fighter

I worked in sessions and I played in bands
A thousand casuals and one-night stands
Here on Thursday, gone on Friday
Heading down the Dixie highway

Someone called Piano Fighter
I'm a holy roller, I'm a real lowrider
Hold me tight, honey, hold me tighter
Then let me go, Piano Fighter

Maybe I'll go to Reno
Nobody knows my name
I'll play Claire de Lune in a quiet saloon
Steady work for a change
Ain't going down that long, lonesome road
Ain't going down that long, lonesome road

Got in trouble down in New Orleans
I must admit that I was strung out, painted in the corner of a limousine

Someone called Piano Fighter
I'm a thin ice walker, I'm a freelance writer
Hold me tight, honey, hold me tighter
Then let me go, Piano Fighter

Someone called Piano Fighter
I'm a holy roller, I'm a real lowrider
Hold me tight, honey, hold me tighter
Then let me go, Piano Fighter

Nighttime in the switching yard
Get it out on the mainline
Listen to the rhythm of the train go by
Listen to the train whistle whine
Nighttime in the switching yard

See that train...
The midnight train runs both ways

Do it
Doot dat doot dat doot dadoot
Listen to the train whistle whine
Listen to the train
Listen to the track

I started as an altar boy working at the church
Learning all my holy moves doing some research
Which led me to a cash box labelled "Children's Fund"
I'd leave the change and tuck the bills inside my cumberbund

I got a part-time job at my father's carpet store
Laying tackless stripping and housewives by the score
I loaded up their furniture and took it to Spokane
Auctioned off every last naugahyde divan

I'm very well acquainted with the seven deadly sins
I keep a busy schedule trying to fit them in
I'm proud to be a glutton and I don't have time for sloth
I'm greedy and I'm angry and I don't care who I cross

CHORUS
I'm Mr. Bad Example, intruder in the dirt
I llike to have a good time and I don't care who gets hurt
I'm Mr. Bad Example, take a look at me
I'll live to be a hundred and go down in history

Of course I went to law school and got a law degree
And counselled all my clients to plead insanity
Then worked in hair replacement swindling the bald
Where very few are chosen, fewer still are called

Then on to Monte Carlo play chemin de fer
I threw away the fortune I made transplanting hair
I put my last few francs down on a prostitute
Who took me up to her room to perform the flag salute

Whereupon I stole her passport and her wig
And headed for the airport and the midnight flight, you dig?
Fourteen hours later I was down in Adelaide
Looking through the want ads sipping Foster's in the shade

I opened up an agency somewhere down the line
To hire aboriginals to work the opal mines
But I attached their wages and took a whopping cut
And whisked away their workman's comp and pauperized the lot

CHORUS

I bought a first class ticket on Malaysian Air
Landed in Sri Lanka none the worse for wear
I'm thinking of retiring from all my dirty deals
See you in the next life, wake me up for meals