Starlings-Album Version - Randy Stonehill

Starlings - Randy Stonehill
Em
Riding with my family
In the '58 Buick
I can still recall how we'd drive
Through the valley to
My grandmother's house every
Summer vacation when
I was small
And I'd gaze out the window
At the farms and the orchards
Counting the telephone
Poles passing by
And the sound of our motor
Would frighten the starlings
And they'd rise from the fields to fly
My mother would grumble
"Those birds are a curse;
They're a thorn in the farmers' side "
But I couldn't help feeling sad
And inspired by their
Desperate ballet in the sky
Say a prayer for the starlings
The hot dry wind beats
Their ragged wings
Have a thought for the starlings
No one ever listens
To the songs they sing
Say a prayer for the starlings
There's no welcome
For them anywhere
Leave some crumbs
For the starlings
They say that winter
Will be cold this year
She was sitting on a curb
By the 7 Eleven; she asked
If I had some spare change
Her skin wore that leathered
And wind-burned look
And the light in her blue eyes
Was wild and strange
I sat down beside her
And asked her her name
She said "Pick one you like;
I need something to eat "
And her life made me think
Of the dead leaves in autumn
Drifting like ghosts down the street
Is the life that we celebrate
Only a dream a lie that
We serve like a god made of stone
And our hearts are the hunter
Birds with no nesting place
Weary and aching for home
Say a prayer for the starlings
The hot dry wind beats
Their ragged wings
Have a thought for the starlings
No one ever listens to
The songs they sing
Say a prayer for the starlings
There's no welcome
For them anywhere
Leave some crumbs for the starlings
They say that winter will
Be cold this year this year