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Godfrey Daniel Lyrics
A million miles from
The Old Routine
A midnight candle burns.
I believe in believing.
I'm deeply concerned.
Walking down the runway
Through the pouring rain
Stretching out my arms like
A supersonic plane
[Bridge:]
Godfrey Daniel;
He ain't done nothin' wrong!
Let him go, back to
Oh-Hi-Oh...
...or wherever he belong.
If all the trees were candles
[And who's to say they're not?]
The world would be a birthday cake, and
We could eat the lot.
But too many cooks spoil the broth, and
A stitch in time saves nine.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and
I'll never change my mind.
[Bridge]
A tightrope walker has a balanced mind
As well as arms and legs. But...
Why do chickens cross the road?
No to mention laying eggs?
I guess I'll never know, or
Truly understand.
Anway, it's not just doorknobs, that
Come off in your hand.
[Bridge x2]
The Old Routine
A midnight candle burns.
I believe in believing.
I'm deeply concerned.
Through the pouring rain
Stretching out my arms like
A supersonic plane
Godfrey Daniel;
He ain't done nothin' wrong!
Let him go, back to
Oh-Hi-Oh...
...or wherever he belong.
[And who's to say they're not?]
The world would be a birthday cake, and
We could eat the lot.
A stitch in time saves nine.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and
I'll never change my mind.
As well as arms and legs. But...
Why do chickens cross the road?
No to mention laying eggs?
Truly understand.
Anway, it's not just doorknobs, that
Come off in your hand.
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I love this song. In his Bonzo days, I think Neil wrestled with a seemingly insurmountable sense of life's absurdity, such that... even though he certainly has a font of good will, he seemed to have trouble saying something warm, wise, meaningful, and connecting.
Well, here he weds that absurdity with a very deep, very profound wisdom.
This is a song about forgiveness and grace. It's a very, very clever little sermon about what it really means to "take the Lord's name in vain". He's saying that it's not the words; it's the attitude. It's the fact that cursing something or somewhat is a failure of the heart. And--true to the form he just prescribed--he doesn't turn around and cuss right back at the cusser; he doesn't want to join the cusser in his/her pit. He cleverly, sweetly, suggests that we can leave ol' Godfrey Daniel in peace, so he can go back to Ohio... or wherever he "belong".
He throws a couple of other bits o' wisdom into the mix: The swearing fealty to folk wisdom ("...bird in the hand...") is his way of alluding to the idea that wisdom is where you find it; not where you're supposed to find it.
And he seems to be closing with a Lennonesque resort to lewdness; like the "finger pie" in Penny Lane. It's (among other things, I suppose) a way of injecting a "disconnect" into the song. So as to avoid the accusation that he's being holier-than-thou.
One of my fave songs of all time. I can sing it and play it on guitar!