Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
Long Shadow
[Verse 1]
Well, I'll tell you one thing that I know
You don't face your demons down
You gotta grab 'em, jack
And pin 'em to the ground
The Devil may care and maybe God, he won't
You better make sure you check on the dos and the don'ts
Crawl up the mountain
To reach where the eagles fly
Sure you can glimpse from the mountaintop
Where the soul of the muse might rise

[Chorus]
And if you put it all together
You won't have to look around
You know you cast a long shadow on the ground

[Verse 2]
Then one day, I could tell my tracks
By the holes in the soles of my shoes
And that's the day I said I'm gonna make the news
I've fallen back in the garden
Of days so long ago
Somewhere in the memory
The sun shines on you, boy
Playing in the Arroyos
Where the American rivers flow
From the Appalachians
Down to the Delta Roads
A man can't think so long
His brain could well explode
There's trains running through the junctions
A king comes down the road
[Chorus]
And if you put it all together
You won't have to look around
You know you cast a long shadow on the ground

[Verse 3]
Listen to the Country
'The Night Jar and the Bell'
Listen to the Night Streamliner
Sounding like the wolves of Hell
Head for the water, the waters of the cleansing spell
It was always our destination
On the express of the Neer Do Wells
And we rock through Madison City
And we didn't even know she was there
And when we hit the Buffers in Memphis
And Beale street didn't have no prayer
And I hear punks talk of anarchy, I hear hobos on the railroads
I hear mutterings on the chain-gangs
It was those men who built the roads

[Chorus]
And if you put it all together
You didn't even once relent
You cast a long shadow
And that is your testament
[Outro]
Somewhere in my soul
There's always rock and roll, yeah