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Donald And Lydia Lyrics
Small town, bright lights, Saturday night,
Pinballs and pool halls flashing their lights.
Making change behind the counter in a penny arcade
Sat the fat girl daughter of Virginia and Ray
(Spoken:)
Lydia
Lydia hid her thoughts like a cat
Behind her small eyes sunk deep in her fat.
She read romance magazines up in her room
And felt just like Sunday on Saturday afternoon.
Chorus:
But dreaming just comes natural
Like the first breath from a baby,
Like sunshine feeding daisies,
Like the love hidden deep in your heart.
Bunk beds, shaved heads, Saturday night,
A warehouse of strangers with sixty watt lights.
Staring through the ceiling, just wanting to be
Lay one of too many, a young PFC:
(Spoken:)
Donald
There were spaces between Donald and whatever he said.
Strangers had forced him to live in his head.
He envisioned the details of romantic scenes
After midnight in the stillness of the barracks latrine.
Repeat Chorus
Hot love, cold love, no love at all.
A portrait of guilt is hung on the wall.
Nothing is wrong, nothing is right.
Donald and Lydia made love that night.
(Spoken:)
Love
They made love in the mountains, they made love in the streams,
They made love in the valleys, they made love in their dreams.
But when they were finished there was nothing to say,
'Cause mostly they made love from ten miles away.
Repeat Chorus
Pinballs and pool halls flashing their lights.
Making change behind the counter in a penny arcade
Sat the fat girl daughter of Virginia and Ray
Lydia
Lydia hid her thoughts like a cat
Behind her small eyes sunk deep in her fat.
She read romance magazines up in her room
And felt just like Sunday on Saturday afternoon.
But dreaming just comes natural
Like the first breath from a baby,
Like sunshine feeding daisies,
Like the love hidden deep in your heart.
A warehouse of strangers with sixty watt lights.
Staring through the ceiling, just wanting to be
Lay one of too many, a young PFC:
Donald
There were spaces between Donald and whatever he said.
Strangers had forced him to live in his head.
He envisioned the details of romantic scenes
After midnight in the stillness of the barracks latrine.
A portrait of guilt is hung on the wall.
Nothing is wrong, nothing is right.
Donald and Lydia made love that night.
Love
They made love in the mountains, they made love in the streams,
They made love in the valleys, they made love in their dreams.
But when they were finished there was nothing to say,
'Cause mostly they made love from ten miles away.
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I'm always amazed when I see John Prine in person and this song draws laughs. Yes it's about masturbation. But more importantly it's about loneliness and isolation. It's such a sad song and the line "fat girl daughter of Virginia and Ray" always draws a number of laughs. I just shake my head in wonder.
It has unspoken masturbation but that's not what it's about. It's about 2 very lonely people. Forced to live in their heads and made to feel guilty by the world because they are not beautiful and probably known abuse as a child. Laugh if you want but you don't get it.
Only John could make a song about masterbation sound romantic!
@cheekie . . . he's certainly taken it beyond the realm of solo activity.
@cheekie . . . he's certainly taken it beyond the realm of solo activity.
haha true true. also thanks to bobo192 for donating all these fab john prine songs. XXX
masterbation
One of Bob Dylan's favorite songs by Prine, who was inspired to write it having heard Dylan's "Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll."