MORNING BUGLE
John Hartford

Here I am, too wasted for the evening ride
Down to mother Mary's other place.
Can I hang out here beside your fireside?
Listenin' to the rain fall, fall along the earth ball.

You know I tried, my dear, to be like everybody else,
But my body and my mind had other plans,
So here I am, laid out beside your fireside,
Listenin' to the rain fall, fall along the earth ball.

Oh, say, please don't go away. I haven't got much I can call to.
You're not here but somewheres else outside,
Some scene I'll make myself fun to keep on laughing.
I'll get by with a little bit o' luck again.

Gonna get me a place down here for Thanksgiving dinner, don't you know?
Gonna get me a lid and keep back out of sight.
It keeps me mellow, gets me way down low,
Playin' in the morning sun, singin' with a silver tongue.

Gonna dig me a hole, down here in all these patchwork quilts,
Keep my banjo by my side, right there in bed,
Pretend I'm in a rowboat down at the railroad pond,
Playin' in the morning sun, playin' with a silver tongue.

Oh, me! What do I see? not much left in the cupboard.
Half past three and time to make the survey again.
The street's up, the street's gone up, the town below got flooded.
I'll get by with a little bit o' luck again.

[From "Morning Bugle" (Warner Bros., 1972; Rounder, 1995) and "Steam Powered Aereo-Takes" (Rounder, 2002).]