Down To Earth

Nov 30, 1970

The Christian

Lyrics

The Christian
It's a hell of a time to be thinking about heaven
Didn't you forget the golden rule
You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor
But he's a little smart for you to fool

You complain how you forgets the gospel
You remind them seek and you shall find
Maybe youth will have a time for seeking
After they clean up what you left behind

Cause it's a hell of a time to be thinking about heaven
Didn't you forget the golden rule
You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor
But he's a little smart for you to fool

You were right there when the plate was passed last Sunday
That's the second time you've been to church all year
Could you really call yourself a Christian
If charity cost half as much as beer
Hey

You pray a little more as you grow older
You get religion as your hair turns gray
But you don't need to worry about hereafter
Just worry what you're going to do today

Cause it's a hell of a time to be thinking about heaven
Didn't you forget the golden rule
You've been acting like Jesus owes you a favor
But he's a little smart for you to fool
Yes my friend I think you've blown your cool
Ellis Dee (He Ain't Free)

Lyrics

ELLIS DEE
Jimmy Buffett, Buzz Cason
Why is he cussin' and calling disgustin'
The city that is now his home
He never smiles or keeps up with styles
He is black and he is all alone
And you ask why he's this way
Well brother you're too blind to see
It's 'cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
Get out of the street don't get high on my beat
Go on home the policeman warns
Just 'cause you're poor why do you declare war
I can't help the way you were born
Why are they holdin' him down
He's spending his life on his knees
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
Chorus:
Got to help Ellis
Got to help Ellis
You know we got to help Ellis Ellis Dee
Try and help Ellis you and me
Got to get to Ellis hear his plea
Try and help Ellis get free
Ellis got hooked he got booked and he shook
In his cold little shivery cell
While out on the street in that same funky beat
Mister pusher was doing well
And Ellis Junior cries tears his daddy can't see
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
Chorus
'Cause Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
No Ellis Dee ain't free like you and me
Richard Frost

Lyrics

Richard Frost
Richard frost left alabama heading west to find his fame
Only got to oklahoma and that's where he changed his name
Now he plays a little tavern all the drunks say he's a star
Hollywood forgot his number now he's stuck in kelly's bar

But is he happy my friend
Or does he pretend?
Is every song a routine chore?
Well he every decide
To go and not hide
Behind his fear and kelly's backstage door

Richard frost draws 90 people and on weekends lines grow long
Singing loud and laughing with them the crowd reacts to every song
Bigger worlds (? ) can't help but make you more aware of what you see
Afraid of what's beyond just eyesight keeps the worlds in harmony

La da da da da da
La da da da da da
La da da da da da da da

La da da da da da
La da da da da da
La da da da da da da da
The Missionary

Lyrics

THE MISSIONARY
Jimmy Buffett
I didn't know we were at war
I've been away so long
Trying to help once lost men
Distinguish right from wrong
I didn't know we killed the men
Our leaders proud and strong
The situation's changed my friend
I've been away too long

I taught my friends
How we had gained respect for every man
And freedom flowed like jungle streams
While peace embraced the land
I told them how we'd learn to change
Our sword blades into plows
I told them how they should learn from us
What should I tell them now

Chorus:
'Cause I didn't know we were at war
I've been away so long
Trying to help once lost men
Distinguish right from wrong

The jungle silence shut them off
From civilized mankind
Their nakedness was no disgrace
No censors could I find
The population lived in peace
All brothers on their own
And now that I have seen the mess
I don't think I'll go home

'Cause I didn't know we were at war
I've been away so long
I told them they should learn from us
I think I told them wrong
A Mile High in Denver

Lyrics

A MILE HIGH IN DENVER
Jimmy Buffett
Sittin' on a pocket full of hard earned wages
Lookin' at the world through magazine pages
I heard a lot about the mountains and the Colorado range
Made this stop for personal reasons
I didn't know I'd catch the changin' of the seasons
Where winter dictates everything from frost to naked trees

I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
I've walked this ground from town to town
Just to finally call it mine

Lookin' for the cloud with a styrofoam lining
Hopin' that the sun will keep on shining
Leading me to distant peace that waits so patiently
Need a little love to try some givin'
Try a little love and then start livin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong

I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
I've walked this ground from town to town
Tonight I'll call it mine

Sittin' on a pocket full of hard earned wages
Lookin' at the world through magazine pages
I heard a lot about the mountains and the Colorado range
Need a little time to try some livin'
Try a little love and then start givin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong
I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
Where God and trees create the breeze
Tonight I'll call it mine
The Captain and the Kid

Lyrics

THE CAPTAIN AND THE KID
Jimmy Buffett

I never use to miss the chance
to climb upon his knee and listen
to the many tales of life upon the sea.

We'd go sailing back on barkentines and
talk of things he did, tomorrow just a
day away for the Captain and the Kid.

His world had gone from sailing ships
to raking mom's back yard;
he never could adjust to land although
he tried so hard.

We both were growing older then and
wiser with our years;
that's when I came to understand
the course his heart still steers.

He died about a month ago
while winter filled the air,
and though I cried, I was so proud
to love a man so rare.

He's somewhere on the ocean now,
the place he ought to be;
with one hand on the starboard rail,
he's waving back at me.
For the Captain and this kid.
Captain America

Lyrics

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Jimmy Buffett
Can you tell me where I might find my friend and companion
He looks a little different from anything you've seen
He likes to beat the bass drum for justice and salvation
He's got the brains of Einstein and brawn of Mister Clean

He's a lightin flash who makes the dash from one coast to the other
To stop a crime or lend a dime or help his aging mother
Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out, Captain America's our man

He wears a mask his clothes are weird and some folks call him hokie
But he is hip and just can't dig the okie from Muskogie
Captain will help anyone a friend or a stranger
Now number one without a gun he's bypassed the Lone Ranger
He's a do do good who loves apple pie and kisses little babies
He'll guard you against everything from atom bombs to rabies

Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out, Captain America's our man

Can you tell me where I might find my friend and companion
He looks a little different from anything you've seen
He likes to beat the bass drum for justice and salvation
He's got the brains of Einstein and brawn of Mister Clean
He's a lightin flash who makes the dash from one coast to the other
To stop a crime or lend a dime or help his aging mother

Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out, Captain America's our man
Ain't He a Genius

Lyrics

Ain't He a Genius
See the lady
Smiles as if to tell
Her son remembers everyone
Treats 'em all quite well
He never asked for promises
And now his fame is wide
And everyone who knew him well shares a little pride

Ain't he a genius?
The boy's become a star
And he smiles upon the faces
Who wish they could go far

Not long ago they criticized
The genius only wrote
And now they listen spellbound
With lumps caught in their throats

His virtue was sheer poverty
His vice was reading plays
While other children starved and fought
He learned just what to say
Through tension and confession
He beat the monster down
Then surfaced in society no longer underground

\ Now they remember
Talk only of his good
While jealousy flows in their veins
And says I wish I could

Ain't he a genius?
Turnabout

Lyrics

TURNABOUT
Jimmy Buffett

As large as life she stood there
Kissed my cheek and called my old nickname
And though several years had passed
Both of us still looked quite the same
I said Hi, relaxed a bit then asked her how she'd been all these years
She told me she was feeling fine and came to see a friend who lived up here

She told me she had finished school
And then went on to college for a year
I asked if she had married
And slowly down her cheek there came a tear
She said just an itchy eye it must be the weather way up here
Told her I can't stand the cold
It freezes me and I can't feel my ears

We talked a bit about Mobile
And thought about how it has never changed
I told her I was comin' home to spend some time
And hoped it wouldn't rain
She asked if she could see me then
And we could spend some time now and then
Because I lived so far away
Was still no chance why we could not be friends

I drove her to the waiting plane
And watched that big jet streaking through the sky
Thought about the sad young girl
And the time that I just saw her cry
That flame must still be burning bright
I think I'll catch a later flight today
It's time for me to go on home and spend a day or two down by the bay.
There's Nothin' Soft About Hard Times

Lyrics

THERE'S NOTHING SOFT ABOUT HARD TIMES
Jimmy Buffett
Every day held a new surprise
I watched the hunger burning in my sister's eyes
The paste-board shack we called home
Would haunt me in my dreams
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
We never knew anything groovy
A dime meant bread and not a movie
The muscles that controlled my smile were rarely ever used
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
Had to go 'cause I could see I wasn't meant for poverty
The family ties were broken soon and I went off to find the moon
So I sit on a bench in Jackson Square
I drink my wine and I breathe the midnight air
Tomorrow I'll just hit the street and bum another dime
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times
Had to go 'cause I could see I wasn't meant for poverty
The family ties were broken soon and I went off to find the moon
So I sit on a bench in Jackson Square
I drink my wine and I breathe the midnight air
Tomorrow I'll just hit the street and bum another dime
'Cause there's nothing soft about hard times.
I Can't Be Your Hero Today

Lyrics

I CAN'T BE YOUR HERO TODAY
Jimmy Buffett
It's never been the same since you returned from dreamin'
With your nursery rhyme excuses and your picture postcards gleamin'
Tellin' everyone who looks your way 'bout people and their sinnin'
While your left field verse is fallin' in proportion to your winnin'

And I can't be your hero today
I'm through with the simple games you play
It just might take some time to even up the score
But I can't be your soldier home from war

And there you sit shining that there's still hope for us
While nature holds the handcuffs on a Capricorn and Taurus
There's nothing you can do or say to get me to your camp
Go fill up all your savings books and buy yourself a lamp

And I can't be your hero today
Your wholesale price is much too high to pay
Bargain basement atmosphere is no way to sell love
And I can't be your superman above

No I can't be your hero today
That is all I really want to say
Go find a leading man who wants to play
But I can't be your hero today
Truckstop Salvation

Lyrics

TRUCKSTOP SALVATION
Jimmy Buffett
Straight-laced leather-faced he rolled in like he owned the two-bit town
Dollar bills bulging from his bell bottomed jeans
The population they gathered 'round
Nothing this exciting since a fertilizer truck
Blew a front tire and landed in the creek

Everybody talkin' everybody strainin'
Tryin' to get a little peek
It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free

Payin' for the gas he quickly shouted thanks
And continued on his journey once again
Just about the time a siren fast approached and
The pot bellied sheriff he whizzed right in
With his self inflicted grammar started shoutin'
Accusations at the long haired greasy looking ape
While a local DJ from the fifty watt station got the
whole damn thing on tape

It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free

The holy roller preacher told the eager congregation
That the devil has passed right through their nest
But the teenage girls with their locks in curls were
A talkin' 'bout that hair upon his chest
Now the kids got their cookies while the preacher
Saved some souls and the story spread to everyone in sight
Commotion was the word and everybody heard
He was gone before the night

It's just the world they'll never know
Not a country fair side show
Reality they'll somehow never see
He's what they've tried to kill
With their Bibles and their stills
But he's not weird just a man that's bein' free

Down To Earth

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