Stranger Candy

It was 1967, I was watching a TV show.

When the glowing screen went blank,

I looked out of my window.

I saw 27 crows perched on my antenna.

In the glass a familiar face appeared---

a man whose name I don't remember.

Now mother's milk is dandy

when you're a little baby.

But as the wheels of time grind you down,

you get a taste for that stranger candy.

Back in December of 81,

I saw my dear old friend John

fall-down drunk at the Christmas parade

with his children looking on.

His wife, she'd lost her mind.

She was committed for a time.

She took refuge when they set her free

in some weird eastern philosophy.

Yeah, that mother's milk is dandy

when you're a little baby.

But as the wheels of time grind you down

you get a taste for stranger candy.

This life they say is hard,

but still it's all you know.

You can close your eyes and try to run away,

but pray, where will you go?

Yeah, life is all you know.

Death is dark and strange.

It's the near and worrisome voice you hear

forever calling out your name.

As I was walking down the street

last week in Portland Oregon,

I found the last of many keys I lost.

I picked it up and I grinned.

'Cause sometimes them crows take flight...

and if you can shoo em from your brain,

you will find yourself in the nick of time

calling the devil by his name.

Calling the devil by his name.

Yeah mother's milk is dandy

when you're a little baby,

but as the wheels of time grind you down

you get a taste...just a little taste

for that stranger candy.