(Some of what follows may not be the original lyrics as I got them from the singing of Iain MacKintosh and - in one easily spotted case - Hamish Imlach.)


SING FOR THE SONG

Chorus:
Sing for the song, boy
Just like you did when you stood on the corner
And you didn't feel the cold
Sing for the song, boy
Just like you did before the beer, the whisky
Got hold of your soul
Sing for the song

Sometimes you sing for the money
Sometimes you sing for the show
Sometimes you sing for those listening ladies
You can still make them cry, don't you know
Sometimes you sing for the glory
But the glory doesn't last very long
Through the haze of the stage
Can you look back to the days
When you used to sing for the song

No, you really don't make too much money
And you don't give much of a show
And those listening ladies next week will be listening
To somebody else, don't you know
When the music is becoming a burden
When the words come out twisted and wrong
Through the haze of the stage
Can you look back to the days
When you used to sing for the song

Repeat 1



LIZ

I'll admit I'm not very handsome
I'll admit my hair is getting thin
I know I'm getting fat and some other things like that
So do you wonder why I sit and slyly grin?

It's just because (allegedly)
Liz got round to Nicky Hilton
To Michael Todd, and Wilding, that makes three
She got around to Eddie Fisher, she got round to Richard Burton
So I'm certain she'll get around to me some day

So I'm sittin` here waiting in the Star Club
I'm confident and happy as can be
I never go on dates, I just sit here and wait
Because I know she's gonna get around to me

My mother says she thinks that I should marry
She says Shirley is the girlie meant for me
But I tell her how it is, I've just got to wait for Liz
Because I know she's gonna get around to me - in VistaVision

I know she's gonna get around to me



LULLABIES LEGENDS AND LIES

Chorus:
Lullabies, legends and lies
And lies
Lullabies, legends and lies
I've sung my songs, now I'll travel along
With my lullabies, legends and lies

I sang of cradles and cats, roses and rats
Sang about cheeky young boys
About teachers and kids and things that they did
And lullabies, legends and lies

And so, my friends, it's that time again
It's time to say our goodbyes
And when you go outside you can try to decide
Which were lullabies, legends and lies

So empty your glasses, before you go home
Could I give you one word of advice
If you like songs like these I've got lots of CDs
Full of lullabies, legends and lies



WHISKY AND WOMEN

Give me strong whisky and weak women
Everything will be just fine
Give me weak whisky and a strong woman
You'll break this heart of mine
I love women, whisky too
When I get drunk there's nothing I won't do
Give me strong whisky and weak women
Everything will be just fine

Give me old whisky and young women
Everything's going my way
Give me young whisky and an old woman
There'll be hell to pay
Whisky's fine when it's aged in wood
When a woman's aged it's not quite as good
Give me old whisky and young women
Everything's going my way

Give me good whisky and bad women
Sit back and watch me scream
Give me bad whisky and a good woman
I won't do a thing
I like my whisky neat and strong
I like my women loving long
Give me good whisky and bad women
Everything's going my way



I CAN'T TOUCH THE SUN

I can't touch the clouds for you
I never reached the sun for you
I can't do the things that you need done for you
I've stretched as high as I can reach
I guess I'm not the one for you
I can't touch the clouds or reach the sun for you

I can't turn back time for you
And make you sweet sixteen again
I can't turn your faded leaves to green again
I can't sit around and talk
About what might have been again
I can't turn back time and make you young again

I hope you'll find somebody who can do the things I didn't do
Find the roads I didn't find and build a brighter world for you
I hope you'll find somebody bold enough to reach and take a hold
Change your ever-changing mind and free your ever-rising soul
'Cause I can't - I can't

I can't look inside your head
See the things you're groping for
I can't help you chase the dreams you're hoping for
You say your arms are open wide
God knows who they're open for
I can't look inside and see your mind

So say good bye and don't look back
I've had some happy days with you
Sorry I can't be the one who stays with you
If they ask about me
You could say I was the one with you
Who never touched the clouds or reached the sun for you



PUT ANOTHER LOG ON THE FIRE

Put another log on the fire
Cook me up some bacon and some beans
Go out to the car and change the tyre
Wash my socks and sew my old blue jeans
Fill my pipe and then go fetch my slippers
And boil me up another pot of tea
Then put another log on the fire, babe
And come and tell me why you're leaving me

Don't I let you wash the car on Sunday
Don't I warn you when you're getting fat
Ain't I gonna take you fishing with me some day
You know a man can't love a woman more than that
Ain't I always nice to your kid sister
And don't I take her driving every night
Come and sit here by my feet 'cos' I love you when you're sweet
And you know it isn't feminine to fight

Repeat 1



THE MERMAID SONG

When I was a lad in a fishing town
An old man said to me
You can live your life, your jolly life
A-sailing on the sea
You can search the world for pretty girls
Till your eyes are weak and dim
But don't go swimming with a mermaid, son
If you don't know how to swim

Her hair is green as seaweed
Her skin is blue and pale
You can love that girl with all your heart
But I tell you now before you start
You're just gonna love the upper part
You're not gonna like the tail

Well, I signed on to a whaling ship
On my first day at sea
I spied a mermaid in the waves
A-reaching out to me
Come live with me in the sea, said she
Down on the ocean floor
I'll show you a million wondrous things
You've never seen before
So in I jumped and down I swam
Down to the ocean bed
And a pillow made of turtle shells
She placed beneath my head
She fed me shrimps and caviar
Served on a silver dish
From her head to her waist she was just my taste
But the rest of her was a fish

Her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
Her face it was a work of art
And I loved that girl with all my heart
But I only loved the upper part
I didn't like the tail

But then one day she swam away
To sing to the clams and whales
I missed her skin, I missed her hair
And the silvery shine of her scales
Then her sister came swimming by
Set my heart in a whirl
'Cause the upper half was an ugly fish
But the rest of her was a girl

Her toes were pink and rosy
Her knees were blue and pale
Her legs were a work of art
And I loved that girl with all my heart
I don't give a damn about the upper part
And that's how I end my tale



HEY NELLY NELLY
(Shel / Jim Friedman)

Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly Nelly, look at what I see
He's riding into town on a sway-back mule
In a tall black hat he looks like a fool
He sure is talking like he's been to school
It's 1855

Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly Nelly, listen what he says
He say the black folk should be free
To walk anywhere like you and me
He's talking about a thing called democracy
It's 1859

Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly Nelly, hand me down my gun
The men are marching, the boys are too
All putting on their coats of blue
I can't just stand here talking to you
It's 1861

Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly Nelly, I've come home alive
But my coat of blue is stained with red
And the man in the tall black hat is dead
We sure can remember all the things he said
It's 1865

Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly Nelly, look at what I see
I see white folks and colored walkin' side by side
They're walkin' in a column that's a century wide
It's still a long and a hard and a bloody ride
In 1963

From Selma to Soweto we're turning the tide
Things are changing now



PEGLEG JOHNSON

Chorus:
I'm a three-legged man with a two-legged woman
Being chased round the country by a one-legged fool
He's jumpin', he's hoppin' and he shows no sign of stoppin'
I tell you boys, life is hard and cruel

Friends I must confess it
For I know you'll never guess it
I just met the sweetest woman
In my long and lonesome life
But a friend said to me, Iain
I can't believe what I'm seein'
Don't you know the girl you're fooling with
Is Pegleg Johnson's wife
And the man is big and mad and mean and grim
And he'll brain you with his artificial limb
But you know next morning early
I stole Pegleg's girlie
And I took his wooden leg as well
Just to play it safe
But there was no time for laughter
'Cause he started hoppin' after
Though I keep running faster
He just won't give up the chase
And now I'm running through the mountains with his bride
And I've got his wooden leg here by my side

From the mountains of Montana
To the swamps of Louisiana
'Cross the mighty Mississippi
To the hills of Carolin'
From the mountains and the valleys
To the city streets and alleys
Each time I look round
He's just one foot behind
And I know he's cold and wet and damp and sick
And in spite of all his troubles he can't kick

Now at nights as I lie sleeping
In my dreams I see him creeping
And I hear him scream and holler
And I hear him plead and beg
He says, you've done some stealin'
But I bear you no hard feelings
You can keep the damned old woman
But give me back my leg
In the dark I know you thought you took the wood one
But examine it you'll find it's my good one