At night he sits alone And he's looking at the stars He listens to them playing guitars He let phil go back a long, long way they talked about marching and dying all in one day They play songs together, they sit up past the dawn I wonder why this dream goes on. Bob was there last week as well He's a quiet guy but he's got stories to tell Our hero sits and listens without asking why Teaches Bob A minor with a glint in his eye Bob used it on Hollis Brown but that was some time ago When is this dream gonna stop? Heaven knows. Then our hero picks up his guitar To play for me the only tune he knows He played it to me once He says "where's the (?), but this is how it goes Then he sings This is the only thing that really matters Keeps me going, retains my sanity The nights I spend alone when there's just Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, David Blue and Me Stevie died and then David died But only to the papers that live outside Last Thursday they were in the room where he sits The three of them making jokes about the meager obits Steve and David smile and they left quite soon He wonders about that dream as he looks at the stars and the moon Sometimes he has a party for him and the crew They turn up on time 'cause they always do Phil plays "I Ain't Marching" Bob plays harmonica but plays it all wrong And Steve harmonizes like he did with John Prine And David just sits and looks blue all the time Then the time comes around again They all sit and listen to our hero play He says, "Ah, you've heard it all before" They like it so they shout "encore" Then he sings This is the only thing that really matters keeps me going, retains my sanity The nights I spend alone when there's just Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, David Blue and Me And me. Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, David Blue and Me
I transcribed this from the version on John Wesley Harding's Dynablob album. The song was also recorded live for his It Happened One Night album.
We all know who Phil and Bob are, Here's more info about Steve Goodman and David Blue.
Last modified 20 Jul 02 by trent