I met him on the cliffs of twin rocks, Oregon
He was sittin on his bedroll lookin just like Richard Brautigan
I thought he was an old man, he wasn't but 37
He said he'd been ridin trains for 15 years
Drawin portraits to keep his belly full of beer
And it looked to me like he'd died and missed the plane to heaven
But he was a nice old guy for a younger man
He had a bottle of mad dog he held in his hand
That he waved around a lot to make his point
And I listened as he told his tales of wine and women and county jails
And we finished off that bottle and smoked a half a joint
He said "I came here to watch the sun disappear into the ocean
It's been years since I smelled this salty sea"
He turned his bottle up and down and I saw him lost and I saw him found
He saID "I don't know what I've been lookin for, maybe me..."
Well, I told him I too had been travelin around
Livin out of my van from town to town
Playin for tips and whatever records
I could move
I said "I don't reckon I'll be makin it big,
You know it's hard to get rich off a tout of coffee house gigs"
And he said "yeah, but ain't it a blessin to do what you wanna do..."
And I told him "yeah, I pulled off here to watch the sun disappear into the ocean
'Cause it's been years since I smelled this salty sea"
And he turned his bottle up and down
He saw me lost and he saw me found
And I said "I don't know what I've been lookin for, maybe me"
I said "it's kind of late better be heading down the interstate
Can I give you a lift to San Francisco Bay?"
He said "nope, I think I'm just going to sit here and rest
And maybe wait on the Tokyo-montana express
I might just lay here and dream my life away
I'm going to sit right here,
I'm going to watch the sun disappear into the ocean
'Cause it's been years, it's been years
I'm gonna turn my bottle up and down
You can see my lost and you can see my found"
I met him on the cliffs of twin rocks, Oregon
He was sitting on his bedroll looking just like Richard Brautigan
Just like him
|