we become becalmed in traffic
stopped to a standstill ion
the trees and forests
the meadows and fields
green
american life in the summer time
i drift off up a river with my sioux friend
we wander thru gentle vegetation for years
we meander through the past
i like the things you sing he says
they are somehow consistent with my own ways
we take sacred herbs and we apprehend reality
by the sandy banks of the rushing river
white birds appear in the blue sky
i say goodbye and walk thru a door in a tree
into a huge restaurant
people doing the tango
a quartet plays in a cage
the waiters dance about
life is easy
life is good
civilization
we smile and order
delicious food materializes
i eat mine down n get up n rush off
outside its raining
windy and rainy like a film set
like smalltown usa
or some blacknwhite tv show i saw at aunty mays
here i am
me
im in america
look here i am can you see me here
wait till i tell dad and kathy
wait till i tell hubba bridge
someone tosses me my bass
i stride onstage in some redlight
wham whack bam boom blam rama dinga lingo
thwack rumble humble brangle dam dam dam boom
crack whack bam bam bim bim wallop danga ding dong
jesus what a racquet
rocking in the free world
everything on eleven
yeah they clap n cheer
wow
alright
go go
hey you gotta admit my knees are in goodshape
rock n roll thats what it is
with a little bit extra whatnot
banga shanga ranga dong ding crash wallop
yeah we play on n on
i scream out i whisper
i rock n jump n thump n all the rest
whatever it all means
how can i tell
i fall down a hole
and im in a hotel having a very very bad dream
everythings going so wrong wrong wrong
beneath the thin veneer
in my bad n naughty dream
i was alone
ALONE!
god dont let me be alone
i woke up with a start
it was 10 a.m.
the pool guy was out there working on the indoor pool
some nice paintings hung on the wall
i hadnt noticed them earlier
the bad dream shatters me somehow
i was crying in it
i do yoga watching the poolman clean the pool
i wonder about his life
about his wife n kids
about his holidays and his car
next thing i’m up on this roof
a guy from alaska whose invented powdered beer
i look out over milwaukee
i think
what made milwaukee famous
made a gooseball out of thee
the guy is a very nice guy however
we talk for a while
we smoke the pipe of peace
we talk of cabbages and kings
he is surprised to see me fly off the roof
and over and out over the greatest lakes
i swoop down over the warm waters
i shoot past boats like a white mist
i see my sioux friend on a shore
we sit together
he surprised i can be so dumb n smart
at the same time
he shakes his head and laughs
i knew youd come back
i alight on the stage
i take up my axe
i go down to slaughter creek
the audience….we slay em
me n my friend
i heft my mighty warhammer in a sonic arc
i crouch low as i take on board your charge
i see my friend disappear in a volley of digital shots
i battle on down the aisles of truck stops
staring through glass cases at beers n wines n coffees n sodas
i must look like a freak
i catch sight of myself
a lunatic loose in the wal-mart
a crazy olde prophet who forget what he was s’posed to say
a jazz crusader all blurry at 3 in morning
at 3 in afternoon
the road truly doth go on forever
i see bikers n trailers n sailors n failures
i see houses and theme parks n giant mice n bulls
i see mansions n hovels
i see the good n the bad
i see the places go by
i see the blue summer sky
i try to hang on to myself
whoever you are now
yesterday is so gone
but isnt that how life ends?
i feel small n alone suddenly
milwaukee is a huge place
a huge city as big as sydney easy
and im down by the lake
homesick n ache
nice room
i hear a foghorn boom
the a.c. slightly sings
like the american road sings
yes it sings its songs
listen says tim
the two sides sing a different song
like a female vox from a mellotron
man you should stop now
stop and get some rest
come in from the heat