Tell it to the Swift

Blackbird, blackbird, I’ll tell you the news
at Waterfront Park they’re playing the blues.
Bluebird, bluebird, oh hear my moan
what good is a song when you sing it alone?

Tell it to the swift
Tell it to the swallow
My heart’s full of music but my guts are hollow.
Tell it to the sparrow
Tell it to the swan
The band still be here when the sun is gone.

Meadowlark with your throat of gold
I had me a trumpet but it got sold.
Swan didn’t sing til the day she died
A bluesman lives when he plays the slide.

Tell to the starling
Tell it to the crow
There’s a secret every blues player knows
Tell it to the pigeon
Tell it to the gulls
Easy to be happy when your stomach is full.

When birds are starving they can scratch for crumbs
a hungry child got to suck his thumb.
When a bluebird sings it’s a happy sound
When a bluesman sings it’s a low-down dirty burning heartache that’ll put you in the ground.

Oh, tell it to the swift
Tell it to the swallow
My heart is broke and my gut is hollow.
Tell it to the sparrow
Tell it to the swan
The band’s still here but the sun’s long gone, long gone.


Available! High-Voltage Lines, Knocking from Inside