Pearly (Little Red)

歌詞

Down in the dark and the doom of the city There's a monstrous old gathering hall And a man there making a windy long speech To the lords and ladies all Fifteen thousand, twenty thousand people Milling and murmuring there "And this ain't the place," says I to myself "For a fellow that needs the fresh air." So I asked for directions to get me outside And I followed them all for sure And I ended up down, ten floors underground And I never saw an exit door The first live soul I saw was a policeman He was long, he was leaning on a rail I says "I'll get to him before he sees me "And ferried me off to jail." So I ease myself upon his starboard quarter I says "Excuse me, your honor, for sure But if you've got a minute, and nothing to do Could you head me out toward the air?" Well, he pointed his finger back over my shoulder And I peered away through the gloom And there, sure enough, was an exit sign Bright as the crack of doom Well, I thanked him as nicely as ever I knew And I eased my way toward the door But he fell into step with me, right along side I could hear his heels on the floor Well he smiled like the sharks out off Little Green Island He had teeth all over his face He says, "You know there's folks'd give an arm and a leg Just to get inside the place." "Oh boy!" Thinks I, "I've got my foot in it now "I never should have come to this town And I don't know what I'm doin' here now But I'm sure I'm doin' it wrong." He says, "There's people travel all over the country "Just to come and see this thing But if I know your type, you'd rather sit around home And listen to Little Red sing." "Little Red," I said, "I'll be damned," I said "I got a friend by that name back home." And he smiles and says, "Look in this crazy world You got to call them like they come." "And I can tell a Maine man any-damn-where I can tell him by his tongue And you ain't far from the exit door But you're a damn long way from home." Well, he laughs till the echoes laugh again He says "Okay, hold out your paws." So I closed my eyes, and I held out my hands Like my fingers were breaking the laws And there was blueberries, blackberries Tumbled into my hand Rosehips bright with the smell of the night From off of the summer land He says, "little sister stayed home on the island She visits us now and again Brings us all she can pick from the hills And it sure does taste like home." Well, we stood in the darkness chomping them berries Eating them our of our hand And my heart went away to the rocks and the bays And my friends in that lonesome land He says "Tell me, speaking of our mutual friend How that tough little fast picking fool Can find his way through the brambles and rocks Of a homesick Maine man's soul." Ah, but I guess he knows when the days get too long And the morning comes too soon There's nothing will knock off the edge of your troubles Like picking an old-time tune Well, he stowed the empty bag away in his pocket Turned on his heel to go And he says, "Well, good luck, and if you see Little Red Tell him Pearly says hello."