Joan Baez Gulf Winds Lyrics:
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)
It's only when the high winds blow that I wish my
hair was long Sailing through the autumn leaves
singing an ancient song Or falling in love in the
streets at night at the edge of a local square
It's only that I'm here tonight thinking I was
there
There are high winds on the pier tonight, my soul
departs from me Striding like Thalia's ghost south
on the murky sea And into midnight's tapestry she
fades, ragged and wild Searching down her ancestry
in the costume of a Persian child
And gulf winds bring me flying fish that shine in
the crescent moon Show me the horizon where the
dawn will break anew And cool me here on this
lonely pier where the heron are flying low Echo
the songs my father knew in the towns of Mexico
When I was young my eyes were wise, my father was
good to me Instead of having a flock of sons he
had two other girls and me And if we had used our
Spanish names, here's the way they'd run Thalia,
Margarita and Juanita, I'm the middle one.
The screen door kept the demons in as we moved
from town to town It's hard to be a princess in
the States when your skin is brown And mama
smoothed my worried brow as I leaned on the
kitchen door Why do you carry the weight, she
said, of the world and maybe more?
And gulf winds bring me flying fish that shine in
the crescent moon Show me the horizon where the
dawn will break anew And cool me here on this
lonely pier where the heron are flying low Echo
the songs my father knew in the towns of Mexico
My grandfathers were ministers and it came on down
the line My father preached in his parents' church
when he was ten years and nine And mama dressed in
parishoners' clothes and didn't believe in hell
[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/9DW ]Her daddy fought the DAR, if he'd lived I'd have
known him well
They said go find a Sunday School, we must have
tried them all I never stole from the silver
plate, my sisters had more gall One preacher said
sing out loud and clear, it's the only life you've
got And the next one said be good on earth, you've
another life at the feet of God
And gulf winds bring me flying fish that shine in
the crescent moon Show me the horizon where the
dawn will break anew And cool me here on this
lonely pier where the heron are flying low Echo
the songs my father knew in the towns of Mexico
My father turned down many a job just to give us
something real It's hard to be a scientist in the
States when you've got ideals And mama kept the
budget book, she kept the garden, too Bought fish
from the man on Thursday, fed all of us and
strangers, too
But time will pass and so, alas, will most of what
we know Though tonight my memory's eye is clear as
the story's being told And I'll play ball with the
underdog and sit with the child who's wrong Be
still when the earth is silent and sing when my
strength is gone
And gulf winds bring me flying fish that shine in
the crescent moon Show me the horizon where the
dawn will break anew And cool me here on this
lonely pier where the heron are flying low Echo
the songs my father knew in the towns of Mexico
Now father's going to India sometime in the fall
They tried to stay together but you just can't do
it all I'll think about him if he goes, there's a
little grey in his hair Though not much because
he's Mexican, they don't age, they just prepare
And if he goes to India I'll miss him most of all
He'll see me in the mudlarks' face, hear me in the
beggar's call And mama will stay home, I guess,
and worry if she did wrong And I'll say a prayer
for both of them and sing them both my song
And gulf winds bring me flying fish that shine in
the crescent moon Show me the horizon where the
dawn will break anew And cool me here on this
lonely pier where the heron are flying low Echo
the songs my father knew in the towns of Mexico
© 1976, 1977 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)
Lyrics: Gulf Winds, Joan Baez [end] 