Various Artists
Scarlet Begonias (Live at Cornell University, May 8, 1977)
[Intro]
Alright, now we're gonna play everybody's favorite fun game "Move back"
Now, when I tell ya "take a step back," everybody take a step back, alright?
Right, okay, take a step back, and take another step back
And take yet another step back, and another, take a step back
Everybody feel better? What do you mean 'no'?
Now, see, all these people in front are being horribly smashed here
So that means all you people in the back have to move back some
(Bill, your friends up front won't be real bug-eyed)

As I was walking round Grosvenor Square
Not a chill to the winter
But a nip to the air
From the other direction
She was calling my eye
It could be an illusion
But I might as well try
Might as well try

She had rings on her fingers
And bells on her shoes
And I knew without asking
She was into the blues
She wore scarlet begonias
Tucked into her curls
I knew right away
She was not like other girls
Other girls
In the heat of the evening
When the dealing got rough
She was too pat to open
And too cool to bluff
As I picked up my matches
And was closing the door
I had one of those flashes
I'd been there before
Been there before

I ain't often right
But I've never been wrong
It seldom turns out the way
It does in the song
Once in a while
You get shown the light
In the strangest of places
If you look at it right

[Instrumental break]

Well, there ain't nothing wrong
With the way she moves
Or scarlet begonias
Or a touch of the blues
And there's nothing wrong with
The look that's in her eye
I had to learn the hard way
To let her pass by
Let her pass by
[Instrumental break]

The wind in the willows played tea for two
The sky was yellow and the sun was blue
Strangers stopping strangers
Just to shake their hand
Everybody's playing
In the Heart of Gold Band
Heart of Gold Band

[Instrumental]