Here are the lyrics to the songs I've filked. I like to stick to the original in theme and even use the same rhymes occasionally. (The lyrics to America's Greatest Hits/History and Man of La Mancha are on separate pages.)
I shall impersonate ... a man.
Come, enter into my imagination, and see him:
Boney, hollow faced, eyes that burn with the fire of inner vision.
He conceives the strangest project ever imagined ...
To become a knight errant
And sally forth into the world, righting all wrongs!
Hear me now, oh thou bleak and unbearable world
Thou art base and debauched as can be!
And a knight with his valors all bravely unfurled
Now hurls down his gauntlet to thee!
I am I, Don Quixote,
The Lord of LaMancha,
My destiny calls, and I go!
And the wild winds of fortune
Shall carry me onward ...
To wither so ever they blow ...
Wither so ever they blow ...
Onward to glory I go!
I'm Sancho, yes, I'm Sancho
I'll follow my master till the end ...
I'll tell all the world, proudly,
I'm his squire ... I'm his friend.
Hear me heathens, and wizards, and servants of sin:
All your dastardly doings are past!
For a holy endeavor is now to begin
And virtue shall triumph at last!
I am I, Don Quixote,
The Lord of LaMancha,
My destiny calls, and I go!
And the wild winds of fortune
Shall carry me onward ...
To wither so ever they blow ...
Wither so ever they blow ...
Onward to glory I go!
(Words and music traditional, arranged by Brian Wilson, performed by the Beach Boys)
We come on the sloop John B
My grandfather and me
Around Nassau town we did roam
Drinking all night
Got into a fight
Well I feel so broke up
I want to go home
So hoist up the John B's sail
See how the mainsail sets
Call for the Captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, yeah yeah
Well I feel so broke up
I wanna go home
The first mate he got drunk
And broke in the Cap'n's trunk
The constable had to come and take him away
Sheriff John Stone
Why don't you leave me alone, yeah yeah
Well I feel so broke up I wanna go home
So hoist up the John B's sail
See how the mainsail sets
Call for the Captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, let me go home
Why don't you let me go home
(Hoist up the John B's sail)
Hoist up the John B
I feel so broke up I wanna go home
Let me go home
The poor cook he caught the fits
And threw away all my grits
And then he took and he ate up all of my corn
Let me go home
Why don't they let me go home
This is the worst trip I've ever been on
So hoist up the John B's sail
See how the mainsail sets
Call for the Captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, let me go home
Why don't you let me go home
(These are the traditional verses to "Scarborough Fair," most of which were not included in the Simon and Garfunkel version which popularized the folk song.)
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
For once she was a true love of mine
Have her make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seam nor fine needle work
And then she'll be a true love of mine
Tell her to weave it in a sycamore wood lane
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And gather it all with a basket of flowers
And then she'll be a true love of mine
Have her wash it in yonder dry well
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
where water ne'er sprung nor drop of rain fell
And then she'll be a true love of mine
Have her find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the sea foam and over the sand
And then she'll be a true love of mine
Plow the land with the horn of a lamb
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Then sow some seeds from north of the dam
And then she'll be a true love of mine
Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And gather it all in a bunch of heather
And then she'll be a true love of mine
If she tells me she can't, I'll reply
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Let me know that at least she will try
And then she'll be a true love of mine
Love imposes impossible tasks
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Though not more than any heart asks
And I must know she's a true love of mine
Dear, when thou has finished thy task
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Come to me, my hand for to ask
For thou then art a true love of mine
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called Gitchigumi
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the "Gales of November" came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feeling?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave tumbled over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck saying
"Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya."
At seven PM the main hatchway caved in, he said
"Fellas, it's been good to know ya"
The captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
They may have broke deep and took water.
All that remains are the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her icewater mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The isles and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitchigumi
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
Can you hear the drums Fernando?
I remember long ago another
starry night like this
In the firelight Fernando
You were
humming to yourself and softly strumming your guitar
I could hear
the distant drums
And sounds of bugle calls were coming from
afar
They were closer now Fernando
Every hour every minute
seemed to last eternally
I was so afraid Fernando
We were young
and full of life and none of us prepared to die
And I'm not
ashamed to say
The roar of guns and cannons almost made me
cry
There was something in the air that night
The stars were
bright, Fernando
They were shining there for you and me
For
liberty, Fernando
Though I never thought that we could
lose
There's no regret
If I had to do the same again
I
would, my friend, Fernando
Now we're old and grey
Fernando
And since many years I haven't seen a rifle in your
hand
Can you hear the drums Fernando?
Do you still recall the
frightful night we crossed the Rio Grande?
I can see it in your
eyes
How proud you were to fight for freedom in this
land
There was something in the air that night
The stars
were bright, Fernando
They were shining there for you and me
For
liberty, Fernando
Though I never thought that we could
lose
There's no regret
If I had to do the same again
I
would, my friend, Fernando
There was something in the air that
night
The stars were bright, Fernando
They were shining there
for you and me
For liberty, Fernando
Though I never thought that
we could lose
There's no regret
If I had to do the same
again
I would, my friend, Fernando
Yes, if I had to do the same
again
I would, my friend, Fernando...
A-breakin' rocks in the hot sun
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won,
I miss my baby and the good fun,
I fought the law and the law won,
I fought the law and the law won.
Chorus:
I guess my race is run,
I left my baby and I feel so bad,
She's the best girl I've ever had,
I fought the law and the law won,
I fought the law and the law won.
A-robbin' people with a zip gun,
I fought the law and the law won,
I fought the law and the law won,
I needed money 'cause I had none,
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won.
Chorus
Yesterday when I was young,
the taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue.
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game.
The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame.
The thousand dreams I dreamed; the splendid things I planned.
I always built, alas, on weak and shifting sand.
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day,
and only now I see how the years ran away.
Yesterday when I was young,
so many drinking songs were waiting to be sung.
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me,
and so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see.
I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out.
I never stopped to think what life was all about,
and every conversation I can now recall,
concerned itself with me, and nothing else at all.
Yesterday the moon was blue,
and every crazy day brought something new to do.
I used my magic age as if it were a wand,
and never saw the waste and emptiness beyond.
The game of love I played with arrogance and pride,
and every flame I lit too quickly quickly died.
The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away,
and only I am left on the stage to end the play.
There are so many songs in me that won't be sung.
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue.
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday...
When I was young.
I heard he sang a good song,
I heard he had a style
And so I came to see him
To listen for a while.
And there he was this young boy
A stranger to my eyes.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words.
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song.
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.
I felt all flushed with fever,
Embarrassed by the crowd,
I felt he found my letters and
Read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish
But he just kept right on.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
singing my life with his words.
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song.
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.
He sang as if he knew me,
In all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me
As if I wasn't there.
But he was there this stranger.
Singing clear and strong.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
singing my life with his words.
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song.
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.
Born in the valley
And raised in the trees
Of Western Kentucky
On wobbly knees
With mama beside you
To help you along
You'll soon be a growing up strong.
All the long, lazy mornings
In pastures of green
The sun on your withers
The wind in your mane
Could never prepare you
For what lies ahead
The run for the roses so red --
And it's run for the roses
As fast as you can
Your fate is delivered
Your moment's at hand
It's the chance of a lifetime
In a lifetime of chance
And it's high time you joined
In the dance
It's high time you joined
In the dance --
From sire to sire
It's born in the blood
The fire of a mare
And the strength of a stud
It's breeding and it's training
And it's something unknown
That drives you and carries
You home.
And it's run for the roses
As fast as you can
Your fate is delivered
Your moment's at hand
It's the chance of a lifetime
In a lifetime of chance
And it's high time you joined
In the dance
It's high time you joined
In the dance --
Where are the simple joys of maidenhood?
Where are all those adoring daring boys?
Where's the knight pining so for me
he leaps to death in woe for me?
Oh where are a maiden's simple joys?
Shan't I have the normal life a maiden should?
Shall I never be rescued in the wood?
Shall two knights never tilt for me
and let their blood be spilt for me?
Oh where are the simple joys of maidenhood?
Shall I not be on a pedestal,
Worshipped and competed for?
Not be carried off, or better still,
Cause a little war?
Where are the simple joys of maidenhood?
Are those sweet, gentle pleasures gone for good?
Shall a feud not begin for me?
Shall kith not kill their kin for me?
Oh where are the trivial joys?
Harmless, convivial joys?
Where are the simple joys of maidenhood?
I've grown accustomed to her face,
She almost makes the day begin;
I've grown accustomed to the tune
She whistles night and noon.
Her smiles, her frowns,
Her ups, her downs
Are second nature to me now
Like breathing out and breathing in.
I was serenely independent
And content, before we met.
Surely I could always be that way again, and yet,
I've grown accustomed to her looks,
Accustomed to her voice,
Accustomed to her face!
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets
are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls."
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.
I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my existence
On a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
All lies in jest, till a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
Well I left my home and family I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station runnin' scared
Layin' low seeking out the poor quarters
Where the ragged people go, looking for the places
Only they would know
Li li li...
Only seeking workman's wages I come looking for a job
But I get no offers
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there
In a-laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was home
Going home
Where the New York City winters aren't a-bleding me
Bleeding me
Going home
Li li li...
In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every bloke that laid him down or cleft him
Till he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving
But the fighter still remains
Li li li...
Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?
You said you'd give to me, soon as you were free
Will it ever be?
Where is the love?
You told me that you didn't love her, and you were gonna say goodbye
But if you really didn't mean it, why did you have to lie?
Where is the love?
You said was mine all mine, till the end of time
Was it just a lie?
Where is the love?
If you have had a sudden change of heart, I wish that you would tell
me so
Don't leave me hangin on to promises
You've got to let me know
Oh how I wish I never met you
I guess it must have been my fate, to fall in love with someone else's
love
All I can do is wait
Where is the love?
You said was mine all mine, till the end of time
Was it just a lie?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?