Taxi

It was raining hard in ’Frisco,
I needed one more fare to make my night.
A lady up ahead waved to flag me down,
She got in at the light.

“Oh where’re you going to, my lady blue,
It’s a shame you ruined your gown in the rain.”
She just looked out the window,
She said “16 Parkside Lane.”

Something about her was familiar,
I could swear I’d seen her face before,
But she said, “I’m sure you’re mistaken”
And she didn’t say anything more.

It took a while, but she looked in the mirror,
Then she glanced at the license for my name.
A smile seemed to come to her slowly,
It was a sad smile, just the same.

And she said, “How are you Harry?”
I said, “How are you Sue?
Through the too many miles and the too little smiles
I still remember you.”

It was somewhere in a fairy tale,
I used to take her home in my car.
We learned about love in the back of a Dodge,
The lesson hadn’t gone too far.

You see, she was gonna be an actress,
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
I took off to find the sky.

Oh, I’ve got something inside me,
To drive a princess blind.
There’s a wild man wizard,
He’s hiding in me, illuminating my mind.

Oh, I’ve got something inside me,
Not what my life’s about,
’Cause I’ve been letting my outside tide me over
’Till my time runs out.

     Baby’s so high that she’s skying,
     Yes she’s flying, afraid to fall.
     I’ll tell you why baby’s crying,
     Cause she’s dying, aren’t we all.

There was not much more for us to talk about,
Whatever we had once was gone.
So I turned my cab into the driveway,
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns.

And she said “We must get together,”
But I knew it’d never be arranged,
And she handed me twenty dollars for a two-fifty fare,
She said “Harry, keep the change.”

Well another man might’ve been angry,
And another man might’ve been hurt,
But another man never would’ve let her go—
I stashed the bill in my shirt.

And she walked away in silence,
It’s strange how you never know,
But we’d both gotten what we’d asked for
Such a long, long time ago.

You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
I took off for the sky.

And here, she’s acting happy,
Inside her handsome home.
And me, I’m flyin’ in my taxi,
Takin’ tips, and gettin’ stoned.

I go flyin’ so high, when I’m stoned....

Any Old Kind of Day

Turning on my pillow, thinking kind of strange.
The color is of midnight in this room.
The cars outside are coughing and it’s kind of hard to sleep
And there’s neon out the window, not the moon.

And it was just an any old kind of day,
The kind that comes and slips away,
The kind that fills up easy my life’s time.
The night brought any old kind of dark,
I heard the ticking of my heart.
Then why am I thinkin’ something’s left behind?

I whistled ’round today and I skipped up a footloose jig
To the hurdy gurdy music of the street.
I looked up past those rooftops and I saw the cloudless sky,
But I keep on asking why my life is passing by,
And I’m left up high and dry,
But it ain’t no good to cry,
So I shrug my useless sigh,
And I trust to things that other days will meet.

And it was just an any old kind of day,
The kind that comes and slips away,
The kind that fills up easy my life’s time.
The night brought any old kind of dark,
I heard the ticking of my heart.
Then why am I thinkin’ something’s left behind?

The night has had it’s laughing,
When the street lights blind the stars,
So now it’s shedding rain to sing it’s sorrow,
It’s time for me to sleep and to rest these thoughts away,
There’s gonna be another day, hey!
When things will go my way,
And there’s other things to say,
And there’s other songs to play,
And there’ll be time enough for thinkin’ come tomorrow.

And it was just an any old kind of day,
The kind that comes and slips away,
The kind that fills up easy my life’s time.
The night brought any old kind of dark,
I heard the ticking of my heart.
Then why am I thinkin’ something’s left behind?
Why am I thinkin’ something’s left behind?