Well... it's not folk music, but...


TWISTED
(m. Wardell Gray, w. Annie Ross, 1949, 1952)

My analyst told me
That I was right out of my head
The way he described it
He said I'd be better dead than live
I didn't listen to his jive
I knew all along
That he was all wrong
And I knew that he thought
I was crazy but I'm not
Oh no

My analyst told me
That I was right out of my head
He said I'd need treatment
But I'm not that easily led
He said I was the type
That was most inclined
When out of his sight
To be out of my mind
And he thought I was nuts
No more ifs or ands or buts
Oh, no.

They say as a child
I appeared a little bit wild
With all my crazy ideas
But I knew what was happening
I knew I was a genius...
What's so strange if you know
That you're a wizard at three
I knew that this was meant for me

I heard little children
Were supposed to sleep tight
That's why I drank a fifth of vodka one night
My parents got frantic
Didn't know what to do
But I saw some crazy scenes
Before I came to
Now do you think I was crazy
I may have been only three
But I was swinging

They all laughed a A. Graham Bell
They all laughed at Edison
And also at Einstein
So why should I feel sorry
If they just couldn't understand
The reasoning and the logic
That went on in my head
I had a brain
It was insane
So I just let them laugh at me
When I refused to ride
On all those double-decker buses
All because there was no driver on the top

My analyst told me
That I was right out of my head
But I said dear doctor
I think that it's you instead
'Cause I have got a thing
That's unique and new
It proves that I'll have
The last laugh on you
'Cause instead of one head
I got two
And you know two heads are better than one


[Annie Ross, Annie Ross Sings, Prestige, prEP 1301, 1952, trk. A1, ©Prestige Music]

Trivia: Comedy duo Cheech & Chong sit in as the bandmate skeptics on Joni Mitchell's 1974 cover.