Thanksgiving Day - Tom Chapin

There's still plenty of leaves Golden on the trees Hoodies, blue jeans and football Bonfires and school nights Scarecrows and hay rides It's fall everywhere except the mall I don't want to hear about Santa Claus coming No silver bells or a dozen drummers drumming I don't want to see an inflatable nothing Till the day after Thanksgiving (And not a day early) Don't plug in those electric candles Or dangle those stockings from the living room mantle Those tangled up lights are more than I can handle Till the day after Thanksgiving Then, oh, let it snow Go and tell everyone you know That Christmas is here Every day between now and new year Don't deck the halls with the tinsel or the holly You can make me grumpy, but you can't make me jolly Elves don't even make curly-head dollies Till the day after Thanksgiving Then, oh, let it snow Christmas card, everyone you know Then pour on the cheer Every day between now and new year I want the cookies and the mistletoe kissing Angel on top of a tall tree glisten Wrap it all up in a pretty red ribbon The day after Thanksgiving (You can put antlers on your car for all I care) As long as it's the day after Thanksgiving

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 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 And 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 the 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 And 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 'til 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 20 dollars for a 250 fare She said, "Harry, keep the change" Well, another man might have been angry And another man might have been hurt But another man never would have 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 And I took off for the sky And here, she's acting happy Inside her handsome home And me, I'm flying in my taxi Taking tips and getting stoned I go flying so high, when I'm stoned

All my life's a circle; Sunrise and sundown; Moon rolls thru the nighttime; Till the daybreak comes around. All my life's a circle; But I can't tell you why; Season's spinning round again; The years keep rollin' by. It seems like I've been here before; I can't remember when; But I have this funny feeling; That we'll all be together again. No straight lines make up my life; And all my roads have bends; There's no clear-cut beginnings; And so far no dead-ends. Chorus: I found you a thousand times; I guess you done the same; But then we lose each other; It's like a children's game; As I find you here again; A thought runs through my mind; Our love is like a circle; Let's go 'round one more time. Chorus

It is an early Monday morning. The sun is becoming bright on the land. No one is watching as he comes a walking. Two bulky suitcases hang from his hands. He heads towards the tower that stands in the campus. He goes through the door, he starts up the stairs. The sound of his footsteps, the sound of his breathing, The sound of the silence when no one was there. I didn't really know him. He was kind of strange. Always sort of sat there. He never seemed to change. He reached the catwalk. He put down his burden. The four sided clock began to chime. Seven AM, the day is beginning. So much to do and so little time. He looks at the city where no one had known him. He looks at the sky where no one looks down. He looks at his life and what it has shown him. He looks for his shadow it cannot be found. He was such a moody child, very hard to touch. Even as a baby he never smiled too much. No no.No no. You bug me, she said. Your ugly, she said. Please hug me, I said. But she just sat there With the same flat stare That she saves for me alone When I'm home. When I'm home. Take me home. He laid out the rifles, he loaded the shotgun, He stacked up the cartridges along the wall. He knew he would need them for his conversation. If it went as it he planned, then he might use them all. He said Listen you people I've got a question You won't pay attention but I'll ask anyhow. I found a way that will get me an answer. Been waiting to ask you 'till now. Right now! Am I? I am a lover whose never been kissed. Am I? I am a fighter whose not made a fist. Am I? If I'm alive then there's so much I've missed. How do I know I exist? Are you listening to me? Are you listening to me? Am I? The first words he spoke took the town by surprise. One got Mrs. Gibbons above her right eye. It blew her through the window wedged her against the door. Reality poured from her face, staining the floor. He was kind of creepy, Sort of a dunce. I met him at the corner bar. I only dated the poor boy once, That's all. Just once, that was all. Bill Whedon was questioned as stepped from his car. Tom Scott ran across the street but he never got that far. The police were there in minutes, they set up baricades. He spoke right on over them in a half-mile circle. In a dumb struck city his pointed questions were sprayed. He knocked over Danny Tyson as he ran towards the noise. Just about then the answers started comming. Sweet, sweet joy. Thudding in the clock face, whining off the walls, Reaching up to where he sat there, answering calls. Thirty-seven people got his message so far. Yes, he was reaching them right were they are. They set up an assault team. They asked for volunteers. They had to go and get him, that much was clear. And the word spread about him on the radios and TV's. In appropriately sober tone they asked "Who can it be?" He was a very dull boy, very taciturn. Not much of a joiner, he did not want to learn. No no.No no. They're coming to get me, they don't want to let me Stay in the bright light too long. It's getting on noon now, it's goin to be soon now. But oh, what a wonderful sound! Mama, won't you nurse me? Rain me down the sweet milk of your kindness. Mama, it's getting worse for me. Won't you please make me warm and mindless? Mama, yes you have cursed me. I never will forgive you for your blindness. I hate you! The wires are all humming for me. And I can hear them coming for me. Soon they'll be here, but there's nothing to fear. Not any more though they've blasted the door. As the copter dropped the gas he shouted " Who cares?" . They could hear him laughing as they started up the stairs. As they stormed out on the catwalk, blinking at the sun, With their final fusillade his answer had come. Am I? There is no way that you can hide me. Am I? Though you have put your fire inside me. Am I? You've given me my answer can't you see? I was! I am! And now I Will Be I WILL BE!

Before the days of Jello Lived a prehistoric fellow, Who loved a maid and courted her Beneath the banyan tree. And they had lots of children. And their children all had children. And they kept on having children Until one of them had me! We're a family and we're a tree. Our roots go deep down in history From my great-great-granddaddy reaching up to me, We're a green and growing family tree. My grandpa came from Russia; My grandma came from Prussia; They met in Nova Scotia, Had my dad in Tennessee. Then they moved to Yokohama Where Daddy met my Mama. Her dad's from Alabama and her mom's part Cherokee. We're a family and we're a tree. Our roots go deep down in history From my great-great-granddaddy reaching up to me, We're a green and growing family tree. Well one fine day I may go To Tierra Del Fuego. Perhaps I'll meet my wife there And we'll move to Timbuktu. And our kid will be bilingual, And though she may stay single, She could, of course, comingle with the King of Kathmandu. 'Cause we're a family and we're a tree. Our roots go deep down in history From my great-great-granddaddy reaching up to me, We're a green and growing family tree. The folks in Madagascar Aren't the same as in Alaskar; They got different foods, different moods And different colored skin. You may have a different name, But underneath we're much the same; You're probably my cousin and the whole world is our kin. We're a family and we're a tree. Our roots go deep down in history From my great-great-grandmother reaching up to me, We're a green and growing family tree. We're a green and growing family.