The Four Of Us     (John Sebastian)

Sitting round a fireplace
We drew a smile across the states
we packed our truck with all our stuff
and 4 of us
Two to drive and two to sleep
Wrapped up in a rainbow sheet
And in the front my love will keep me
on the road and laughing

On our way we met a man
with healer-boxer-sculptor's hands
We love hime cause he understands
the 4 of us

Time, time with him was time in school
Sitting in the backyard
Teaching from his box of rusty tools
And he could talk such magic at his clear-eyed 85
And just when you thought you got the picture
he'd show you the joke inside.
"Yeah", he said, "The joke'ss on you!"
"You don't even know where you're going to!"

Further south our truckstops ran
to see the singing dolphin man
and pancakes from a frying pan
for 4 of us
Somewhere there we got a brandnew scheme
Further south was islands
like the kind you see in dreams
So we left the truck and all or stuff
and skipped across the see
To emerald pools in paradise
for 4 of us

Domenica

Domenica, Domenica
What I'd give for just a week in Domenica
I'd give anything
Oh what I'd give for just a week in Domenica

I said "Hey, Missy Breadfruit Lady
Do ya have a papaya, maybe?"
I said "Hey, Mrs Ice Cream Lady
This year she say she got strawberry?"

Domenica, Domenica
What I'd give for just a week in Domenica

Back across the ocean floor
The 4 of us were ripe for more
Paradise was nice but then
you can't stay there forever
Rollin' on up the beach
Trace that smile from cheek to cheek
New Orleans was our next stop
When rollin' in..here comes the cops
And the county jail had lovely cots
for 4 of us

Lashes LaRue

Where are you, Lashes LaRue
Don't you keep me waitin' 
Saw you smile right outside
The Basin St.Bus Station

I was stoned, far from home
Diggin' where it isn't
I was mailing kilo bags
to my friends in prison

As I was splittin' she was sitting ou
front in the purple flowers
She knocked me dead, I was breathless
But we talked non-stop for an hour
When up behind me came a voice
and a great big hand
He say "We opened up your mail
Now you're goin' to the slam"
I'm as far away from Lashes
as a foreign power

Where are you, Lashes La Rue
You're makin' me so impatient, honey
Saw your smile right outside
The Basin St. Bus Station

Yeah, your daddy was a carny
and your mommy was a fortune-teller
They used to brew up the bootleg beer
down in the cellar
Yeah but I got caught on a modern crime
I was smokin' dynamite, now I'm servin' my time
If you see Lashes LaRue
You just got to tell her

Mississippi Delta and across New Mexico
And I remember how I held her
as the desert turned to gold
And I remember every time we
stopped that dusty truck
And stood together wondering
"Is it all here for us?"
You, you know I think it is
You better go on up and tell the kids

Red Wing, Colorado

I can feel a question as we wander down the road
Asking us how far away from life we wanna go
Looking for a place to be alone
Had led us to a foothill town
the road map didn't show

Red Wing, Colorado, taught me thing or two
about you and just what you could do
Red Wing, Colorado, isn't the kind of place
you'd go to just for fun
Just a lonely general store
That's been bleached out in the sun

But Red Wing was a teacher, it was like she had a voice
You'd be surprised how much you learn
Once you've got no choice
And we were learning how to get along

Red Wing, Colorado, showed us just how much
is really unimpaired, still and country aired
On a farm in Red Wing we lived from day to day
Makin'do for us, just the two of us
Makin' do for us, just the two of us

Yeah and it sure felt good
But we were getting lonely and heading for Hollywood
Every place was more to sing
But I can't tell you everything
Yeah we finally made it home
And now the family's on its own
Babies come and numbers grow
There's more of us
Gee.....we really miss those times
Seeing through each other's eyes
Sure was nice

So here's a little travelling song
Of talk that comes from dusk till dawn
So go and see and pass it on
Lest you miss it lest it's gone
Every lover keep your driver
on the road and laughing.

Chicken Flats Music; c/Warner-Tamerlane Pub.Corp (BMI)
1971 John Sebastian "The Four Of Us"
Reprise Records