1 Meaning
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A

Rags And Bones Lyrics

Catch a taxi to the fountainhead
Blinking neon penny arcade
A young Caruso on the fire escape
Painted face ladies on parade
The newsboy on the corner
Singing out headlines
And a fiddler selling pencils
The sign reads: Help the blind

Comin' up the lane callin'
Workin' while the rain's fallin'
Ragman, your song of the street
Keeps haunting my memory
Music in the air
I hear it ev'rywhere
Rags, bones and old city songs
Hear them, how they talk to me

Trolley car rings out the morning
Whistle blows at noon
A cat fight breaks open the night
While watch dogs bay at the moon
A preacher on an orange crate
With a Salvation Army Band
And clicking along the cobbled stones
That's the sound of the ice-cream man

Comin' up the lane callin'
Workin' while the rain's fallin'
Ragman, your song of the street
Keeps haunting my memory
Music in the air
I hear it ev'rywhere
Rags, bones and old city songs
Hear them, how they talk to me

The organ grinder and his monkey
Still walkin' the same old beat
The shoe-shine boy slappin' leather
He puts the rhythm in your feet
Strollin' by the churchyard
List'nin' to the Sunday choir
With voices rising to the heavens
Like sirens screaming to a fire

Comin' up to the lane callin'
Workin' while the rain's fallin'
Ragman, your song of the street
Keeps haunting my memory
Music in the air
I hear it ev'rywhere
Rags, bones and old city songs
Play them one more time for me
1 Meaning

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Add your thoughts...
Cover art for Rags And Bones lyrics by Band, The

Been listening to this lately after all those years. Stunning. Doesn’t need much explanation but the lyrics are superb - evocative of the multitude of city sounds (Toronto?) in the 50s/60s. Richard’s voice is also superb - he is at the top of his game here. A great song off a great album. I feel a great sadness when I listen to The Band with the tragic loss of Richatd, Rick and Levon. As an Aussie I never got to see them live, but they were really important to me in the 60s and 70s - still are!

 
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

Ask a question...