Shoot First

Words and Music by Judy Collins and David Grusin
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)
Roaring Folk Music (BMI)

"The minstrel boy to the war is gone
In the ranks of death you'll find him;
His father's sword he has girded on,
And his wild harp swung behind him."

Go get your guns it's time to play
Let's hurry up don't waste the day
Out in the park we'll stage a fight
Just like on the T.V.
You play the one who has to die
I'll shoot the gun and you will cry
You will fall down and I will run
Just like on the T.V.
My daddy has a gun for real
I'm gonna have my own someday
Just like on the T.V.

My daddy told me what to do
If anybody bothers you
He says the law is on our side
Just like on the T.V.

You've gotta shoot first
Shoot first, you've gotta shoot first
And ask your questions later
Shoot first, you've gotta shoot first
Shoot first
You gotta get them before they get you

My older brother has his own
It's got a handle made of bone
He carries it all over town
Just like on the T.V.
My daddy gave my mama one
Genuine real pearl-handled gun
She says she got to have her one
Just like on the T.V.
Did you see who got shot last night?
I stayed up to watch him
They rushed him off to surgery
Right there on the T.V.
Gosh I hope they catch the guy
I think they ought to shoot him
But if they bring him back alive
He'll be on the T.V.

You've gotta shoot first
Shoot first, you've gotta shoot first
And ask your questions later
Shoot first, you've gotta shoot first
Shoot first
You gotta get them before they get you

I've got to go it's getting late
I wish I had a real gun
Then I would never be afraid
Like some guys on T.V.
I'd never use my gun on you
You'd never have to worry
You'd be the good guy on my side
Just like on the T.V.

I think when I grow up someday
I'm gonna join the NRA
I saw them telling what they’re for
Last night on the T.V.
My daddy says it's not a game
We've got to play to win it
He says I'll have to learn to fight
Just like on the T.V.

You've gotta shoot first
Shoot first, you've gotta shoot first
And ask your questions later
Shoot first, you've gotta shoot first
Shoot first
You gotta get them before they get you

quot;Land of Song," said the warrior bard,
quot;Tho' all the world betrays thee,
One sword at least thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"

Since You've Asked

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

What I'll give you since you asked
Is all my time together;
Take the rugged sunny days,
The warm and Rocky weather,
Take the roads that I have walked along,
Looking for tomorrow’s time,
Peace of mind.

As my life spills into yours,
Changing with the hours
Filling up the world with time,
Turning time to flowers,
I can show you all the songs
That I never sang to one man before.

We have seen a million stones lying by the water.
You have climbed the hills with me
To the mountain shelter,
Taken off the days one by one,
Setting them to breathe in the sun.

Take the lilies and the lace
From the days if childhood,
All the willow winding paths
Leading up and outward,
This is what I give,
This is what I ask you for;
Nothing more.

Singing Lessons

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

God of the rivers and the waterfalls
God of thunder and lightening    
God of plains and the mountains
Of rainbows and prairies
God of birth and death
Of love and hope         

God of sun and moon
God of ocean tides
You who drive the stars
You of perfect light
Teach me how to sing

And it came to pass on a cloudy night
That I found myself lost in the dark
And the wind blew cold and I was afraid
And if love were lost how would I live            

You were like some mist in the fading light
And my broken dreams wept in the night
Where was all the love we had known before
In this sea of tears would I reach the shore

God of sun and moon
God of oceans tides
You who drive the stars
You of perfect light
Teach me how to sing

I was on my knees, I was at the end
There was nothing left, I would never mend
When I heard a song in the waves that tossed
Death is not the end, there is nothing lost

God of sun and moon
God of ocean tides
You who drive the stars
You of perfect light
Teach me how to sing

Music of the spheres through eternity
Saying that through your tears you will always see
Saying the more you lose that the more you own
And the more you love the more you own
Saying the pain you feel opens up your heart

Where the swallows flew there was once a cloud
Now the sun was bright and the river smiled
And I heard you say death is just a dream
Make your songs again you must always sing

God of sun and moon
God of ocean tides
You who drive the sun
You of perfect light
Teach me how to sing

God of everything
Teach me how to sing
God of everything
Teach me how to sing

Sky Fell

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

The rain is falling down
Along with the sky
The colors and remembered suns
Are pouring by.

What will I do with the sky
When it is empty?

Come to the window
Put your arms around me again
If you don't hold me
I will wash away with the rain

What will I do with my arms
When they are empty?

I'll just stand here and watch
The sky fall while you
Put yourself together
While you gather up the time it took to
Make us think we would last forever.

The window fills your face
With silver and grain,
You're soaking up the sky
I'll never see it again

What will I do with the sky
When it is empty

What will I do with my life
When you have left me?

Sometime Down The Road

Words and Music by Judy Collins, Denise Rich, Michael O'Hara
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)
IDG Publishing
O’Hara Music/Texas Music

Sometime down the road
Maybe when we're grey and old
We'll be together
Just when nobody knows
Cause at our journey's end
Where the river bends
I'll be waiting there my friend
We'll be loving once again
Sometime down the road

Take my hand across, across the sea
And fly with me
To a place where hearts transcend
And time is standing still
Travel through the shining stars

Beyond out galaxy
What a thrill if we will
Keep trusting our destiny

Sometime down the road
Maybe when we're grey and old
We'll be together
Just when nobody knows
Cause at our journey's end
Where the river bends
I'll be waiting there my friend
We'll be loving once again
Sometime down the road

When our souls have crossed the ocean
We'll meet again
When the troubled water calms
And the clouds have all gone by
We will stand together
On a shore of peace my friend
You and I through the sky
We'll be carried beyond the wind

Sometime down the road
Maybe when we're grey and old
We'll be together
Just when nobody knows
Cause at our journey's end
Where the river bends
I'll be waiting there my friend
We'll be loving once again
Sometime down the road

Earthbound I am filled with
Doubts and loneliness
Lift my spirits to thoughts much higher
Of dreams we still have left

Sometime down the road
Maybe when we're grey and old
We'll be together
Just when nobody knows
Cause at our journey's end
Where the river bends
I'll be waiting there my friend
We'll be loving once again
Sometime down the road

Song For Martin

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ Rocky Mountain National Park Music, Inc.  (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

In Rough Rock, Arizona he lived for many years alone
A gangly kid from Colorada, who could sing the sweetest songs
I first heard Woody's songs from him in a cabin in the snow
Seems like it was yesterday but it was years and years ago

He moved to Arizona in nineteen sixty-one
Got a job at the Indian school - he was livin' in the sun
My life was movin' fast by now, I was always on the run
My country life was far behind and the circus had begun

Marty, I know it got lonely out there
Coyotes cryin' at midnight in the cold desert air
The heart that sorrow broke in you can never be repaired
Mart, I know I let you down somewhere

I knew that me and Marty, we should have been good friends
I always knew the paths we walked were meant to cross again
We talked on the telephone once or twice a year
His voice was so familiar, his memory was clear

I'll never know what brought him to where he finally stood
A shotgun pointed at his head in a cabin in the woods
But somehow I could hear it, it struck my heart as well
For the unknown man who needs a hand
For the friend I'll never know

Marty, I know it got lonely out there
Coyotes cryin' at midnight in the cold desert air
The heart that sorrow broke in you can never be repaired
Mart, I know I let you down somewhere

Song For Duke

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

I didn't even know the man
I didn't know the man himself
Even though his music filled my life
As it has so many others

I knew that he had died that week
After fighting death a year or more
But I had had a rule before
That funerals were a waste of flowers

But something said I had to go
To be a witness to his gift of love
A man who never once gave up on life
Until death took him in his tracks

The people stood around the church
Ten thousand people there they say, or more
Black and white, rich and poor
Together they were there to say farewell

In New York City it had rained that day
The streets were silver and the sky was grey
But in the church the music soared and sang
And seemed to fill the air with shining sun

The man was a hero
He played the music of our souls
He knew that we all have in us
A place where beauty always grows

Outside in the streets again
The people wandered through the falling rain
They waved their hands and dried their tears
And turned to go about their lives again

But none of us will be the same
If we hear the things his music says
That loving is the gift of life
And making music was his way of love

The man was a hero
He played the music of our souls
He knew that we all have in us
A place where beauty always grows

Song For Marion

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ Rocky Mountain National Park Music, Inc.  (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

Dear lord be good to me, the sea is so wide
Dear lord be good to me, my boat is so small

Oh God who lives beyond the place of thunder and rainbows
God who blows the western wind and calms the raging waves
God who shakes the mountains and pours fire on the sea
God who blows the howling wind, take care of me

Show you heart and show your face
Do not let me fall from grace

Dear lord be good to me, the sea is so wide
Dear lord be good to me, my boat is so small

I may not have the clothes of silk, or money of silver
I may not have a home made out of marble or clay
I know I have no armor to protect me from the storm
Oh God whose power burns the sun, please keep me warm

Show you heart and show your face
Do not let me fall from grace

Let me see the radiance of sun upon dark clouds
Let me see the silver dancing stars
Let me see the moon as she dances in your sky
Let me see your face amid the crowds

As the sun can rise at dawn up from the cloudy sea
As the day can break form darkest night
Let me find the rainbows end that follow the thunder
Through my tears against the wind teach me to begin again

Show you heart and show your face
Do not let me fall from grace

Dear lord be good to me, the sea is so wide
Dear lord be good to me, my boat is so small