grapes

home

concerts

lyrics

shop

gallery

contact

The Jesse Winchester Collection

Anthology of Lyrics

Compiled by Alan Freeman

"Nothing But A Breeze"

1977
Cover photo
Liner photo

Nothing But A Breeze
My Songbird
Seems Like Only Yesterday
You Remember Me
Twigs And Seeds
Gilding The Lily
Bowling Green
Pourquoi Ne M'Aimes-Tu Pas?
It Takes A Young Girl
Rhumba Man

Nothing But A Breeze

Life is much too short for some folks
For other folks it just drags on
Some folks like the taste of smokey whiskey
Others figure tea is too strong
I'm the type of guy who likes it right down the middle
I don't like all this bouncing back and forth
Me, I want to live with my feet in Dixie
And my head in the cool blue North

And there we'll do just as we please
It ain't nothing but a breeze

In a small suburban garden
Not a single neighbor knows our name
I know the woman wishes we would move somewhere
Where the houses aren't all the same
Jesse, I wish you would take me
Where the grass is greener
I really couldn't say where it may be
Somewhere up on a mountain top
Or down by the deep blue sea

And there we'll do just as we please
It ain't nothing but a breeze

One day I'll be old gray grandpa
All the pretty girls will call me "sir,"
Now, where they're asking me how things are
Soon they'll ask me how things were
Well, I don't mind being an old gray grandpa
If you'll be my gray grandma
But I suggest we go have our milk and cookies
In the shade of the old paw-paw

And there we'll do just as we please
It ain't nothing but a breeze

Back to the top

My Songbird

Songbird in a golden cage
She'd prefer the blue
How I crave the liquor of her song
Poor bird who has done no harm
What harm could she do?
She shall be my prisoner her life long

My songbird wants her freedom
Now don't you think I know?
But I can't find it in myself
To let my songbird go
I just can't let her go

O Lord, when your jeweler's eye
Peers into my soul
O Lord, I am overcome with shame
Take me, Lord, and purify
Heal me with a word
Lord, I beg a gift I dare not claim

My songbird wants her freedom
Now don't you think I know?
But I can't find it in myself
To let my songbird go
I just can't let her go

Back to the top

Seems Like Only Yesterday

I'll never forget that dreadful day
When I decided to run away
Little Sister was playin
With a kitten on the floor
Mama was rockin out on the front porch
And Daddy had gone to the grocery store
And Brother had left the day before

Packed my clothes when no one was lookin
Went out the back door and into the bushes
And down the holler and over the creek
Then up the hill and across the field
I jumped the fence and I thumbed a ride
Much too young to realize
That I'd regret all it by and by

And I wish I had the love that was offered to me
When I was just too young and blind to see
There was a whole lot of love in that old house
But I had to leave to find it out
And it seems like it was only yesterday

If I'da known then what I know now
I'da stayed right on my daddy's old farm
Just a young upstart
I thought I was smart
Tried to be a man when I was only a child
But many a time it comes to my mind
To pack my clothes and leave this town
And jump that fence and cross that field
And down the hill and over the creek
An up the holler and through them bushes
And in the back door when no one is lookin'
And accept the love that was offered to me

And I wish I had the love I threw away

Back to the top

You Remember Me

They say no one should call on you
Unless he's your permission to
But me, I just came anyway
I couldn't care less what you say
Cause I know you from long before
You hid behind a stained-glass door
And walked around in your dressing gown
And looked an old friend up and down

But anyway, I thought I'd come give you a look
At where you're from
And let you know I still recall
What a child you are underneath it all

You remember me
The funny way I cry
The funny way I sit there
When someone says good-bye
The funny way I wind up lost
When someone sets me free
Why sure, you remember me.

Well, I won't take up your whole day
I've said 'bout all I have to say
I s'pose I'll be moving on
I know you'll be glad to see me gone
Tonight is our last night in town
So don't worry about me hanging around
Tomorrow night it's Calgary
And you will be good and rid of me

But anyway, I thought I'd come give you a look
At where you're from
And let you know I still recall
What a child you are underneath it all

You remember me
The funny way I cry
The funny way I sit there
When someone says good-bye
The funny way I wind up lost
When someone sets me free
Why sure, you remember me.

Back to the top

Twigs And Seeds

Well, when I got home from work last night
I headed straight for my stash
'Cause I wanted some of my private blend
Which is two parts grass to one part hash
Well, when I got to my little secret hiding place
And I checked out my little plastic bag
Well, there wasn't a speck of that nice leaf left
And I felt my whole spirit sag

There's nothing but twigs and seeds
Twigs and seeds
And they sure don't deliver the punch
That this ole head needs

So I phoned up my old connection and I said
"Look, Richard, this is an emergency, man
Look, I have just discovered that I am
Fresh out of that herb that's so dear to me
You know what I mean man?"
He said, Look, Jesse, I'd like to help you, man"
Said, "I'm in business to supply you with the
weed, you know
But the man just busted a whole huge shipment
of mine
And now everyone in town's smokin'
twigs and seeds" (that's right)

There's nothing but twigs and seeds
Twigs and seeds
And they sure don't deliver the punch
That this old head needs

So you have morning glory seeds and nutmeg
And LSD and model airplane glue
And peyote buttons an' Methedrine, Benzedrine,
Hexedrine
Someone said banana peels would do
Let us say the use of these various hallucinogrens
Was somehow no longer a legal misdeed
Well, man, I still think there ought to be some
sort of law
About possession of nothin' but twigs and seeds

There's nothing but twigs and seeds
Twigs and seeds
And they sure don't deliver the punch
That this old head needs

Back to the top

Gilding The Lily

A bolt of pure silk from a Chinaman's loom
I know that would please you but really
All the silk in the world on you little girl
Would simply be gild on the lily

O all of my gifts pale as I give them to you
O just give me time
Surely there's something will do
And I'm going to bring it to you

An African Diamond as blue as their skies
I know that will please you, but really
The man had no diamond as blue as your eyes
But it would be gild on the lily

I wish I could give you what's locked in my heart
I know that would please you but really
I mislaid the key a long time ago
And it would be gild on the lily

O all of my gifts pale as I give them to you
O just give me time
Surely there's something will do
And I'm going to bring it to you

Back to the top

Bowling Green

Way down in Bowling Green
The prettiest girls I've ever seen
A man in Kentucky sure is lucky
To live down in Bowling Green

Bowling Green folks treat you real kind
They let people speak their own mind
A man in Kentucky sure is lucky
In Bowling Green you walk your own line

Kentucky sunshine makes the heart unfold
It warms the body and I know it touches the soul
Bluegrass is so fine, Kentucky home is mine
Bowling Green, Bowling Green, Bowling Green

The fields down in Bowling Green
Have the greenest grass I've ever seen
A man in Kentucky sure is lucky
To lie down in Bowling Green

Bowling Green girls treat you right
They wear their dresses cut country tight
A man in Kentucky sure is lucky
To be seen in Bowling Green light

Back to the top

Pourquoi Ne M'Aimes-Tu Pas?

Gardes mon nouveau chapeau
Et mon poil de chameau
Mes bottes noires a talons hauts
Mes boutons de manchette
Ils jouent "L'Alouette"
Peses ces choses-la au verso

Et toujours tu m'aimes pas
Mais personne n'a plus que moi
Et Chantal, c'est tout pour toi
Mais pourquoi m'aimes-tu pas?

J'ai un skidoo rouge
Qui vraiment se bouge
Un beau chalet aux Laurentides
Et mon perroquet
Qui sacre en Angials
Quand sa tasse d'eau est vide

Triste, o triste, o ce n'est pas le mot
Tellemet riche, mais tellement pauvre
O pauvre

Et ma cave de vins
Est pleine de Chambertin
Je ne peux pas le boire moi meme
J'ai des fourmis la
Enrobees de chocolat
Ta maman m'a dit que tu les aimes

Back to the top

It Takes A Young Girl

It takes a young girl to make an old man smile
It takes a young girl to make an old man fly
Now why should it take a young girl
To move this old heart of mine?

It takes an old man too long to explain
How a young girl can play an old old game
But that's just how it is, first she's yours
And then she's his
And it's always, always the same

It's been ten long years since I have cried
It's been five, I know five, since I've even tried
Now why should it take a young girl
To move this old heart of mine

Back to the top

Rhumba Man

I'm the same old guy that I used to be
I haven't changed at all
I got the same old walk and the same old talk
That would run you up the wall
The same old face and the same old smile and
The same old baby blues
And I'm still doing the rhumba, baby
So I'm still the man for you

I'm still doing the rhumba baby
I can't seem to quit
If my mama catches us doing the rhumba
Mama would just pitch a fit
But I can't help myself, it's much bigger than me
If I were you, I'd hang onto a rhumba man like me

There's lots of guys on the floor tonight
With a lot slicker steps than me
The boogaloo and the funky broadway
Are such a pretty sight to see
My step might be old fashioned
But it's just fine with me
I got a couple of rhumba steps
You might like to see

Back to the top