Ambulance Blues

Back in the old folky days

The air was magic when we played

The riverboat was rockin' in the rain

Midnight was the time for the raid

Oh, isabela, proud isabela

They tore you down and plowed you under

You're only real with your make-up on

How could I see you and stay too long?

All along the navajo trail

Burn-outs stub their toes on garbage pails

Waitresses are cryin' in the rain

Will their boyfriends pass this way again?

Oh, mother goose, she's on the skids

Shoe ain't happy, neither are the kids

She needs someone that she can scream at

And I'm such a heel for makin' her feel so bad

I guess I'll call it sickness gone

It's hard to say the meaning of this song

An ambulance can only go so fast

It's easy to get buried in the past

When you try to make a good thing last

I saw today in the entertainment section

There's room at the top for private detection

To mom and dad this just doesn't matter

But it's either that or pay off the kidnapper

So all you critics sit alone

You're no better than me for what you've shown

With your stomach pump and your hook and ladder dreams

We could get together for some scenes

I never knew a man could tell so many lies

He had a different story for every set of eyes

How can he remember who he's talkin' to?

'Cause I know it ain't me, and I hope it isn't you

Well, I'm up in T.O. Keepin' jive alive

And out on the corner it's half past five

But the subways are empty

And so are the cafes

Except for the farmer's market

And I still can hear him say

You're all just pissin' in the wind

You don't know it but you are

And there ain't nothin' like a friend

Who can tell you you're just pissin' in the wind

I never knew a man could tell so many lies

He had a different story for every set of eyes

How can he remember who he's talking to?

'Cause I know it ain't me, and hope it isn't you