Lyr Req: Homeless Brother (Don McLean)

Subject: Homeless Brother
From:
Date: 14 Feb 99 - 05:57 AM

by Don McLean

Somewhere there was a woman
Somewhere there was a child
Somewhere a cottage where primros? I have done a midi file of the tune ö!Î à!Î €Ô
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Subject: RE: Hapless message
From: Felipa
Date: 14 Feb 99 - 05:59 AM

messages still be garbled. I have no midi-file. I am looking for full lyrics; I did give a verse and a half in the original message

Subject: Lyrics request: Homeless Brother
From: Felipa
Date: 15 Feb 99 - 05:59 PM

Hi. Bringing this thread back to the top of the queue. Sorry I forgot to write "Lyrics request" in the original thread title.
I see that someone mentioned this song in the January thread on songs about the homeless, but offered no details beyond title and author.
[continuing from the first broken message]...where primroses grow wild/But somewhere's just like nowhere when you leave it for a while/That homeless brother is my friend.
I especially like the verse about how the more prosperous "envy him the freedom and pity him the chill"

Subject: Lyric request: Homeless Brother
From: Felipa
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 11:47 AM

still seeking the song. It's not so obscure; one of you must know it!

Subject: RE: Homeless Brother
From: Will Bakker
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 03:13 PM

I was walkin' by the graveyard last Friday night I heard somebody yellin', it sounded like a fight It was just a drunken hobo, dancin' circles in the night Pourin' whisky on the headstones in the blue moonlight So often have I wondered where their sorrows cannot show Where the police cannot find them, where the wanted man can go There's freedom when you're walkin' even though you're walkin' slow

Chorus: Smash your bottle on the gravestone and live while you can That homeless brother is my friend

It's hard to be a pack rat, it's hard to be a 'bo But livin's so much harder where the heartless people go Somewhere the dogs are barking and the children seem to know That Jezus on the highway was a lost hobo And they hear the holy silence of the temples in the hill And they see the ragged tatters as another kind of frill And they envy him the sunshine and they pity him the chill And they're sad to do their living for some other kind of thrill

(chorus)

Somewhere there was a woman, somewhere there was a child Somewhere there was a cottage where the marigolds grew wild But somewhere's just like nowhere, when you leave it for a while You'll find the broken hearted when you're travelin' jungle style Down the bowels of a broken land where numbers live like men Where those who keep their senses have them taken back again Where the night stick cracks with crazy rage Where mad men don't pretend Where wealth has no beginning And poverty no end

(chorus)

The ghosts of highway royalty have vanished in the night The Whitman wanderer walking toward a glowing inner light the children have grown older and the cops have gripped us tight There's no spot 'round the melting pot for free men in their flight And you who live on promises and prosper as you please The victim of your riches often dies of your disease He can't hear the factory whistle, just the lonesome freight train's wheeze he's livin' on good fortune, he ain't dyin' on his knees Smash your bottle on the gravestone and live while you can That homeless brother is my friend That homeless brother is my friend

It's along song, typing with two fingers. I took it from the sleeve of the album 'Homeless Brother' from 1974. By the way, what's a Whitman wanderer?

Subject: RE: Homeless Brother
From: Felipa
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 04:26 PM

Thanks so much, Will, for taking the trouble. The line you refer to probably alludes to a Walt Whitman poem; now we'll have to find out the original lines!

Subject: RE: Homeless Brother
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 15 Nov 00 - 07:55 PM

I think I'm right about the Walt Whitman connection, but can anyone give a deeper explanation?

Subject: RE: Homeless Brother
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 06 Jun 01 - 09:43 PM

still wondering what others have to say about Whitman (see above)

Subject: RE: Homeless Brother
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Jun 01 - 10:11 PM

This homeless song is as thick as mollases. I'm curious why you're interested in this song, Felipa? There have been so many simpler and more powerful songs about homelessness. There are even songs which patiently explain why "some" are out on the street and why it makes perfect sense given our bizarre market system and weird social priorities.

Cordially,
Landlady's Daughter, not to be confused with Charley Nobel

Subject: Lyr Add: HOMELESS BROTHER (Don McLean)
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Jun 01 - 10:20 PM

Just added breaks, hope it works..


I was walkin' by the graveyard late last Friday night.
I heard somebody yellin'; it sounded like a fight.
It was just a drunken hobo, dancin' circles in the night,
Pourin' whisky on the headstones in the blue moonlight.
So often have I wondered where these homeless brothers go,
Down in some hidden valley where their sorrows cannot show,
Where the police cannot find them, where the wanted man can go.
There's freedom when you're walkin' even though you're walkin' slow.

Chorus: Smash your bottle on the gravestone and live while you can.
That homeless brother is my friend.

It's hard to be a pack rat; it's hard to be a 'bo,
But livin's so much harder where the heartless people go.
Somewhere the dogs are barking and the children seem to know
That Jesus on the highway was a lost hobo.
And they hear the holy silence of the temples in the hill,
And they see the ragged tatters as another kind of frill,
And they envy him the sunshine and they pity him the chill,
And they're sad to do their livin' for some other kind of thrill.

CHORUS

Somewhere there was a woman; somewhere there was a child.
Somewhere there was a cottage where the marigolds grew wild,
But somewhere's just like nowhere, when you leave it for a while.
You'll find the brokenhearted when you're travelin' jungle style,
Down the bowels of a broken land where numbers live like men,
Where those who keep their senses have them taken back again,
Where the nightstick cracks with crazy rage, where madmen don't pretend,
Where wealth has no beginning and poverty no end.

CHORUS

The ghosts of highway royalty have vanished in the night.
The Whitman wanderer walking toward a glowing inner light.
The children have grown older and the cops have gripped us tight.
There's no spot 'round the melting pot for free men in their flight,
And you who live on promises and prosper as you please,
The victim of your riches often dies of your disease.
He can't hear the factory whistle, just the lonesome freight train's wheeze.
He's livin' on good fortune; he ain't dyin' on his knees.

Smash your bottle on the gravestone and live while you can
That homeless brother is my friend
That homeless brother is my friend

Subject: RE: Homeless Brother
From: mousethief
Date: 07 Jun 01 - 12:53 AM

It may be thick as molasses, but it has a very infectious melody, especially in the refrain.

IMHO.

Alex

Subject: RE: Homeless Brother
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Jun 01 - 08:19 AM

It does help to give us a break or two!

Landlady's Daughter, not to be confused with Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Homeless Brother
From: LR Mole
Date: 07 Jun 01 - 11:54 AM

Well...two of old Walt's best-known shards are,"I celebrate myself and sing myself", and "Do I contradict myself?Very well then I contradict myself,(I am large, I contain multitudes.)" He had the nineteenth-century sense of huge destiny for America; his pages in Bartlett's give you a good quick fix on him.