- and sleeps on a hook..." That's Victor, right? - Mr. Quinn!
'Cause I saw a picture of him once in a magazine, smoking Camels,
which I know Danny Ronk used to smoke,
but then he switched to Lucky Strikes in '64.
Mr. Quinn, we really ought to hurry. Everyone's at the car!
...till early '65. - Norman, Mona, Sammy...
Sammy? Who's Sammy?
Sonny. Sonny Dover.
The central doyen of the inner circle,
and Jude's oldest ally.
He plays maracas on "Medicine Sunday."
Judey! Lover boy! Ah!
Two words on Shakespeare, Mr. Quinn, for our listeners.
Two words?
Raving queen,
and cosmic amphetamine brain.
I dig Shakespeare.
I have a question for Mr. Quinn.
Oh, Keenan, please forgive us. Mr. Quinn,
allow me to introduce to you Mr. Keenan Jones,
arts editor and host of the BBC.
I remember you.
Yes, I was going to ask Mr. Quinn why he insists
on putting us and the rest of the world on so?
Some might be persuaded to doubt his sincerity.
Well, who said I was sincere?
Are you saying you're not sincere?
No more than you, you know?
No more sincere than you are.
See, you just want me to say what you want me to say.
You might think
nothing can reach those tens of thousands,
living by the dollar.
But you'd be wrong.
Hey. What are you doin' here?
You alone?
Now, why would that be any concern of yours?
Look, I'm sorry about what happened.
- Nothing happened. - Fine. Nothing happened.
Oh, come on. I was straight with you.
I thought you had no recollection.
Look, I can't recall San Francisco at all.
And I can't really remember El Paso,
but you shouldn't take it all so personal.
I don't, believe me.
My current situation far precedes anything from the past.
But you never know how the past will turn out.
Sorry.
But your kisses are nothing like his.
I bet.
- Anyone I know? - Good one.
No, your lucky tongue will not decay me.
Fine, you take your glands, and your medallions,
and make love for once, freely.
So that's what you think you have over everyone.
Freedom.
I just got to clean up a little bit.
And I'll be fine.
Here's a tip: Use your fists.
Very funny, Coco.
Hey, Coco!
Coco!
You look and sound very tired, very ill.
Is this your normal state?
I take that as an insult.
Do you suffer from sore eyes, groovy foreheads, and curly hair?
Take Zoomdom!
Hey. Hey, isn't that what's-his-name, the poet?
- Ginsberg? - Allen Ginsberg?
Oh, my God! It is!
Wait a minute.
Hey! Allen thought that was you in there!
I don't think you two have met.
- Hi. - Hey.
Allen, tell him what you said to that reporter,
the one that asked if you thought that Jude had sold out.
What, they're asking you?
I said I didn't know. Perhaps you sold out to God.
What's that even mean?
Well, if your mission was to see whether
you could do great art on a juke box,
well, you know, then we all benefited.
Profited, you said, by his coercion.
That was it. So. What now?
Now? What's left?
Oh, my salvation?
Well, see what we could do.
Oh, he'll give it to you!
That was Allen Ginsberg, man!
See ya later, Allen Ginsberg.
Would you say, then,
that the collective struggles
of the color discrimination or the war have failed,
or as I believe you inferred earlier,
do you think it's the process itself that's at fault?
Who cares what I think? I'm not the president.
I'm not some shepherd. I'm just a storyteller, man.
- It's all I am. - Well, certainly.
But as someone who once cared deeply,
as a storyteller, as...
for social justice, equality... certainly you still care as a human being.
Well, why? Why?
I mean, what do you care?
If I care, or I don't care, what's it to you?
All right, what if I said I never cared about, you know, folk music?
About, you know, protest songs?
It was all about jumping into a scene.
You know, I was never gonna stay there. I mean, I just...
I knew I could do it better than anybody else.
Well, I don't believe you.
No, I mean, you know, what matters to me...
you know, it matters what's happening now.
Does it matter to you when songs you're writing now
are being used as recruitment tools
for militant street gangs, like the all-Negro faction in the United States?
Oh, yeah.
A group that promotes precisely the kind of violence
your earlier songs oppose?
If you're asking me, man, am I a member of the Black Panther Party,
the answer's no.
Man, I can't really tell you how I care.
Well, I presume at the very least
that you care something about what you sing every night.
What are you... How can I answer that,
if you got the nerve to ask me?
I mean, you've got a lot of nerve, asking me a question like that.
- Do you ask the Beatles that? - Do I...
- Or Mr. Eve of Destruction? - Would you ask Barry McGuire that?
I have to ask, because you have the nerve to question whether I care.
I'm not questioning you because I don't expect any answers from you.
Maybe Victor Mature. He looks like Victor Mature.
More like Elsa Lanchester, man, with a North Mexican kind of thing.
That's very protest-y, man. You know, it's very very protest-y.
You know, I am convinced of one thing. You either do care about nothing at all,
or tremendously much that people think so.
And you ask for my time?
Mr. Quinn, we really do need you in...
Listen, I know more about you, right, than you will ever know about me.
You think I give a crumpet what you write in your lousy paper?
Now, I don't need to look to someone else, man, to tell me I'm good.
Slaughter me, for all I care.
I refuse to be hurt.
Mr. Quinn, we really do need you in the car.
Hey, man.
You refuse feeling deeply about anything.
It's clear to anyone how entirely self-conscious you are,
in everything you do.
- That's enough! - Feeling deeply?
That's what this is about?
What precisely, please do tell, am I supposed to be feeling, huh?
I'm simply referring to standard emotions:
Pain, remorse, love.
Yeah, I have none of those feelings.
# You walk into the room #
# With a pencil in your hand #
# You see somebody naked and you say #
# "Who is that man?" #
# You try so hard #
# But you don't understand #
# Just what you will say when you get home #
# But there's something happening here #
# And you don't know what it is #
# Do you, Mr. Jones? #
# So you hand in your ticket #
# And you go watch the geek #
# Who immediately walks up to you #
# When he hears you speak #
# And he says #
# "Well, how does it feel, my friend #
# To be such a freak?" #
# You say, "Impossiblel" #
# As he hands you a bone #
# And you're positive that something's happening here #
# But you don't know what it is #
# Do you #
# Mr. Jones? #
# You have so many contacts #
# Out there among the lumberjacks #
# To get you the facts when someone attacks #
# Your imagination #
# No one has any respect #
# Anyway, they always expect #
# You'll just give a check #
# To tax-deductible charity organizations #
# Well #
# You been with the professors #
# And they all like your looks #
# And with great lawyers you have #
# Discussed lepers and crooks #
# You've been through all of #
# F. Scott Fitzgerald's books #
# You're very well read, yeah, it's well known #
# Because something is still happening here #
# You don't know what it is #
# Do you #
# Mr. Jones? #
# Well, the sword swallower #
# He comes up to you and then he kneels #
# He crosses himself #
# And then he clicks his high heels #
# Without further notice #
# He tells you how it feels #
# Then he says, "Here's your mouth back #
# Thanks for the loan" #
Stop. Stop the song.
# And you kno... #
Well, I missed it. I missed it again.
I missed it.
Bobby, now you ain't hearin' me, man.
No, we are the geeks. You dig?
But then why is that cool?
No, man, we are the ones being paraded around
like some sort of circus freaks.
"Come on up and see Harlem, Mr. Jones,
but make sure your window's rolled up tight."
This song is hell, man. You've got to understand,
this song is saying a hell of a lot about society.
All power to all people, man, that's what it's saying.
- I missed it again. - Bobby.
Aw, Bobby nothing. Just play it again, Huey.
Let's play it one more time.
# Because something is happenin' here #
# And you don't know what it is #
# Do you #
# Mr. Jones? #
You know, this is music.
You know, what you're hearing is not English music, all right?
You've never really heard American music before.
And what you hear, obviously, right now, doesn't have a name.
It's words, all right? And sounds.
If it's something you disagree with, that's great.
Judas!
I don't believe you.
Judas!
Come up here and say that.
You're liars, all of you.
I accept chaos.
I'm not sure whether it accepts me.
We hadn't spoken in a long while.
I think he was involved with someone, actually...
He said something to me on the phone
about angels hanging off of buildings,
which was frightening.
I thought he was hallucinating.
That was the last I heard.
It was like what people say about Billy the Kid...
that he really just dodged a bullet and went into hiding.
And Jack, he always loved Billy the Kid.
Whoo!
Henry.
What the hell's wrong with you?
Paper said Pat Garrett tracked me down.
Stopped me dead.
That outlaws always die.
Only a fool would believe what they read in the papers.
Come on.
Here, I'm invisible.
Come on, now.
Even to myself.
Henry! Calm yourself down.
Gettin' everybody zigaboo here.
Henry. Henry! Henry!
Come on back here! Henry!
You get back here!
And here, by the road where nobody goes,
where it causes no worry,
where the show must go on,
is where I'll die.
Henry! Come back here!
# There must be some kind of way out of here #
# Said the joker to the thief #
# There's too much confusion #
# I can't get no relief #
# Two riders are approaching #
# And the wind began to howl #
Henry! Henry!
God damn it, get back here!
Hey! Come back, Henry!
Come on, now.
How long had it been?
I couldn't even say.
The day I arrived looks a lot like today.
Least, that's how it seemed at the time.
Homer, is that you?
Mr. B.
What's the trouble, there?
A useless bag of thumbs what I am.
There you go.
Sellin' off whatnot.
Mm-hmm.
Well, ain't seen no yellow dog runnin' loose
by any chance, have you?
Old Henry tore off on me.
- What, she get spooked? - Seemed to.
Why? Critters know what's goin' on.
- What do they know? - Well, for one, they know
Shadow Valley's gettin' blown to kingdom come.
What, that old highway plan? No, never had a chance.
You mean, you really ain't heard?
Heard what?
Mr. B, that plan's official. It's gone through.
Last Tuesday, they all come. Old Man Garrett and them bunch?
Wavin' all sorts of papers?
- I never seen such a stupor. - What are you talkin' about?
- Wh-What's official? - Six-laner headed
straight through the heart of Shadow Valley.
Commissioner Garrett done give us 30 days come November.
Why haven't I heard nothing about this?
Mr. B, you don't get out much.
Don't sound credible to me, Homer.
What have people been saying? They been doin' anything?
Well, first Charley Harper, the zookeeper?
Shot hisself in the face in front of them
three maiden sisters and two bachelor brothers.
Them all went insane on account.
Been five hangings, six Phenobarbitals,
and, well...
you familiar with young Clarice Henry?
Mrs. Henry, the Captain's girl?
Of course I am.
Well, what?
The Captain found her.
Throat cut. By her own hand, they say.
Well, where you fixin' to?
Well, if it's true,
gonna pay my respects to Captain and Mrs. Henry.
This whole thing's sounds fishy to me. You comin'?
Oh, no. No, not today.
- Shameful day. - Suit yourself.
Anyway, Charley gone, and all of his brothers,
who's mindin' the zoo?
Homer?
1968.
America watched its war plan collapse,
its cities burn, its youth erupt,
its president crumble, its greatest leaders fall slain.
And there we were.
All alone with Richard Nixon.
No. No. Not at all.
Come on, face it. Face it, it's over.
All these groups promoting the movement
are so full of their own president, vice president,
- and secretary bullshit. - Not at all.
They just think it's all about them, man.
All these right-wing corporate hawks
plotting to invade the world, and drug us to death
with happy pills and the Bible.
- It ain't gonna happen. - I never said that.
What are you talking about? You say it all the time.
I don't know. I think we all agree
that the world is a terribly fucked-up place,
but I happen to feel that there's something to be done
to change the situation, and you...
don't really sound like you...
He doesn't. Well...
Well, you want to know why you think that?
That, uh, something can be done to change things?
Why?
- Because you're a chick. - Oh, Jesus, Robbie.
What's that supposed to mean?
Oh, forget it.
Son of a bitch.
So you're basically a chauvinist.
Why? Because I think guys and chicks are different?
Come on, that's all I'm saying.
And they are.
They each have access to different kinds of pain,
which is pretty much why chicks can never be poets.
- Jesus! - What?
Robbie, please, you're not serious.
That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard.
Emily Dickinson.
No, that's not the same.
As what?
Whitman, Rimbaud, Shakespeare.
Grace is... she's really big into Women's Lib.
Guys and chicks are different, I'm sorry.
I cannot believe you're actually saying these things.
I cannot believe you actually think that women are incapable of...
Okay, okay, okay.
Let's try something, huh?
You write down the nastiest thing you can think of,
and I'll write down the nastiest thing I can think of, and...
- What? - We'll compare.
- But what does that prove? - Just do it.
- No. - Claire, sit down.
No!
- No, no, no! I want to know... - Come on, honey.
Play the game!
I want to know what this thing is that women cannot experience or...
Cut the fucking snaps!
Or write about or talk about or what, put on paper?
What is this place?
Do you own this place?
Did you invent it?
Uh, no, honey, I don't.
Claire, come on, you're missing the point completely.
I-I worship women.
Everybody should have one.
- Yeah, fine. - Claire!
Claire, come on. I was kidding.
Hey, God's a woman.
Claire.
Hey!
Fuck you, man!
What are you, fucking deaf?
I told you to stop fucking doing that.
Fuck.
What?
Nothing.
You've changed.
Yeah. Fuck right, I've changed.
All of this... these new clothes,
new car, these shades.
You'd never wear shit like that before.
Man, you tell me I've changed
as if that's all there is to say, you know,
in this completely different voice
than the one you had ten minutes ago.
You know, kids shooting craps in an L.A. Garage pot,
and you say nothing's perfect.
I say it again: There are no politics.
Right.
Well, then, what the fuck is there?
Huh?
Sign language.
No town ever loved Halloween
like the town of Riddle.
So who a fellow really was never really mattered.
Not with what pretending had to offer.
It was my kind of town.
Hey, guys! You should've seen me.
I come in like a Ferris wheel, and, boys, I sure was slick.
What the heck are you supposed to be?
Well, if you don't know, I'm not gonna tell you.
# Your back is straight, your hair is smooth #
# On the pillow where you lie #
# But I don't sense affection #
# No gratitude or love #
# Your loyalty is not to me #
# But to the stars above #
# One more cup of coffee 'fore I go #
# To the valley below #
Chester?
- Billy. - Mr. McCarty.
Ma'am.
So what's with all this doomsday hocus-pocus going on?
# One more cup of coffee for the road #
# One more cup of coffee 'fore I go #
You two taking a trip?
# To the valley below #
Seven simple rules for life in hiding.
One...
never trust a cop in a raincoat.
Two...
beware of enthusiasm and of love.
Each is temporary and quick to sway.
Three...
when asked if you care about the world's problems,
look deep into the eyes of he who asks.
He will not ask you again.
Pack up the meat, sweet.
It's king for king and queen for queen.
Afternoon, Mr. McCarty.
George, Delia.
Number four and five...
- Good afternoon, Billy. - Howdy, Mr. B.
- Good morning. ...never give your real name.
Afternoon, Mr. Gladstone, sir.
Hey. Hey, hey.
What are you doing? What are you doing?
Hey!
Hey, you all right, son?
Please, dear man, you gotta get me outta here.
This here's chicken town.
And if ever told to look at yourself...
never look.
His singing voice, asthmatic and whiny,
makes his success at first seem inconceivable,
but for so many of his ardent admirers,
- Quinn's simple raggedness... - Here we go.
... was always the sound of his truth. Could you pass me that?
In it, they could conjure all the hard knocks
his rough and tumble story implies,
all the honest struggles
their far more conventional backgrounds deny them.
Jesus.
- On the other hand... - This guy's an asshole.
If Quinn's recent foray into electronic music
has raised doubts concerning his sincerity in the past,
the startling truth behind his famously clouded origins
is sure to close the book once and for all
on his future.
Six...
never say or do anything
the person standing in front of you cannot understand.
For, despite his unwashed, freewheelin' credentials,
and contrary to anything he's ever stated,
the real Jude Quinn...
suburban, middle class, educated...
is as conventional as they come.
The eldest son of a Brookline, Massachusetts,
department store owner, the real name of America's
backwoods vagabond turned rock-and-roll martyr
is Aaron Jacob Edelstein.
And seven...
never create anything.
It will be misinterpreted.
It will chain you and follow you
for the rest of your life.
And it will never change.
# Hollis Brown #
# He lived on the outside of town #
# Hollis Brown #
# He lived on the outside of town #
Behold the hole of the tarantula.
Revenge sits black on your back.
And wherever you bite, black scabs grow.
# He lived with his wife and five children #
# And his cabin #
# Broken #
# Down #
For that man be delivered from revenge,
that for me is the highest hope.
A rainbow after a storm.
Girls, Molly...
I want you to take everything up to your room, okay?
I'll be up in two minutes for your baths.
Yes?
You sound out of breath.
Oh, so you're back?
Today.
How are the girls?
They're great.
Busy. Enjoying school.
That's great.
And you?
Fine. We're all fine.
So, um, which night is boat night?
Saturday?
- Hello? - Uh, yeah.
Saturday, that's, um...
day after tomorrow.
Yep.
That's fine.
Mommy, who are you talking to?
All right, so what time?
Uh, 11:00?
Fine.
Mommy, who are you talking to?
Molly, what did I tell you about pickup?
- Upstairs... - Or I can get 'em earlier, just...
No, no, no, it's fine, fine.
But please bring those boxes, okay?
- I've asked you, like... - Wait, what boxes?
The photos. My photos?
- I've asked you, like... - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Fine. Fine, fine.
Molly!
Okay, I gotta go.
Uh, welcome back.
Thanks...
That's right, my friends.
I am holding the only true account,
so buy it here, read it there.
Buy it here, read it there.
An epic tale of blunder and despair,
a withering saga of mystery unveiled,
a swan song to America before Chaplin set sail
or the children of dawn in crazy duress
ever watched the red sun without bothering to dress.
Buy it here, read it there!
An epic tale of blunder and despair,
a withering saga of mystery unveiled,
a swan song to America before Chaplin set sail
and the children of dawn in crazy duress...
Thief! Somebody stop that man!
Stop!
No!
# I'm goin' down #
# To Rose Marie #
# She never does me wrong #
# She puts it to me #
# Plain as day #
# And gives it to me for a song #
# It's a wicked lie #
# But what the hell #
# Don't everybody got to eat? #
# And I'm just the same #
# As anyone else #
# When it comes to scratchin' #
# For my meat #
# Goin' to Acapulco #
# Goin' on the run #
# Goin' down #
# To see that girl #
# Gonna have some fun #
# It's not a bad way to make a livin' #
# And I ain't complainin' none #
# Well, I can blow my plum #
# And drink my rum #
# And then go on home #
# And have my fun #
# Goin' to Acapulco #
# Goin' on the run #
# Goin' down to see that girl #
# Gonna have some fun #
# Yeah #
# Gonna have some fun #
Trouble was, I'd grown partial to the place...
that sudden smell of fear
and the thrill of waiting up
for the end of the world.
# I'm not your stepping stone #
# You're trying to make your mark in society #
# You're losin' all the friends... #
Congratulations, you're a millionaire.
- Huh? - They agreed to everything.
- Full guarantees. - How many dates?
There's 55 additional, I think it was.
Plus the 30?
Well, 29, minus tonight is 28.
That's 83 total.
83 shows?
Well, it's not really 83 shows...
Man, I can't do 83 more shows.
It's going to fucking kill me doing 83 more shows.
Who the fuck said I ever wanted to be a millionaire?
Jude!
Hey.
Far out show.
Thanks, man.
Grab a throne.
Really?
Far out.
You know Norman, my executioner.
Norman, this is Brian Jones from that groovy covers band.
# Now you're walkin' round like you're front page news #
# You've been awful careful 'bout the friends you choose #
# But you won't find my name in your book of Who's Who #
# I said I'm not your stepping stone #
Find the drinks.
Look at all these medicines.
Hey, man, what... what are those?
Mandies.
They make you sleep.
Sleep! I ain't sleepin'.
Sleep's for dreamers.
I haven't slept in 30 days, man.
Takes a lot of medicine to keep up this pace.
Coco!
Norman, darling.
I know I'm a wretch for being late.
And it was entirely my fault.
Hey, what's happening?
I feel like complete shit is what's happening.
Well, you don't look it.
Aw, true love...
here in the land of Charles Atlas and the bomb.
Oh, fuck off.
She's been kinda... uptight lately.
Oh, she has.
Oh, I see.
Yes, in fact, if you'd like to know, it's been complete shit.
- Angelina's been missing for four days. - Her cat.
Judey knows who Angelina is, don't you, Judey?
If you're asking if I remember your little pussy, of course I do.
Charming.
She has the sweetest little pussy.
If you don't count the teeth.
Okay, man.
Oh, but properly protected.
Meow!
- Baby! - Don't call me that!
Slow down, slow down, slow down.
I tell you, love and sex are two things
that really hang people up.
Why that is...
I'Il... I'll never fully understand.
Death to all those who would whimper and cry.
Did she... Do you think she...
Don't worry, man.
She'll be back.
Chick's gotta shit on something.
What do you mean?
What do I mean?
Who are you?
I mean...
who gave you permission to even be here?
You're... You're like a shadow, man.
Maybe you were hip once,
but that trick got old, man,
a long time ago.
Now, every time you open your mouth,
it's like, how long is this gonna take?
It's not like anyone's gonna tell you to your face.
No one wants to deal, you know, with, like,
a pathetic situation.
Guess I'm the asshole, right?
Because I'm the only one with any balls.
Oh, man, it's sad.
You used to be funny.
And you honestly think that chick sees you
as anything but a... as a tool?
Oh, no, you're kidding me.
I can't even watch this.
The sky isn't yellow.
It's chicken.
You know, people said you could be a real cocksucker.
Well, it's not what goes into a man's mouth, babe,
that defiles it.
No, it's what comes out.
Good and evil were invented by people trapped in scenes.
Uh!
Oh, damn it.
Come on, let's get him outta here.
Get that door!
# I'm beginning to hear voices #
# And there's no one around #
# Now I'm all used up #
# And the fields have turned brown #
# 20 miles out of town #
# Cold irons bound #
Son, you better get down off of that thing.
You're liable to get yourself killed!
How does it feel?
# I got to know, Lord #
# When to pull back on the reins #
# Death can be the result of the most underrated things #
Man that is born of woman is of few days...
and full of trouble.
Why don't you do your early stuff?
# Satan whispers to ya #
# Well, I don't wanna bore ya #
# But when you get tired of that Miss So-and-So #
# I got another woman for ya #
Why, when nations rage
and kingdoms totter,
when disaster follows hard upon disaster
and terror hangs on every side...
Why hast Thou made me Thy mark?
# Trouble in mind, Lord #
# Trouble in mind #
# Lord, take away this trouble in mind #
It's hard not to go to hell.
There's so many distractions, so many influences.
Start walking right, and pretty soon,
there's someone gonna drag you down.
Sure as we're living, sure as we're born,
look up, look up.
Gabriel blows his horn.
He was having a lot of worries,
telling me things.
I just asked him one day, I said, "Have you ever prayed?"
And he said, "Pray?"
You know, like that.
And he started asking a lot of questions.
I didn't know him then,
but I sure knew who he was.
People worshipped him.
Maybe only Jesus could've unburdened
someone like that from such omnipotence.
In spring of 1974,
Jack Rollins followed girlfriend Angela Reeves
to Stockton, California,
and enrolled in a course in Bible study
here at the California Gateway Brotherhood Church,
a Pentecostal assembly just outside Stockton.
Six months later,
Rollins accepted Jesus into his heart.
Today, the one-time '60s folk hero
is a fully ordained member of the Gateway Ministry
and an active figure in the state's evangelical community.
And yet, for the past two decades,
Father John has remained silent about his past.
I asked him why.
Old things are passed away.
All things are made anew.
It doesn't matter what I did before.
I've never lied to you.
Never told you who to vote for or to follow anybody,
back then when I was selling my records.
What I didn't know is that it didn't matter
what kind of music you were playing.
Folk, pop, rock 'n roll...
we're all rolled up in the devil's pocket.
Now, I'm not talking about a devil with the pitchfork and horns.
I'm talking about a spiritual devil in the midnight hour.
He's gotta be overcome.
And we here in America, we shall overcome.
What greater honor for a nation
than to speak for God?
For some say that the war to end all wars
has already begun right now in the Middle East,
where it is prophesized that the weak will fall.
And that Jesus will set up His kingdom in Jerusalem.
So why should we worry when we're already free,
right here, right now?
And why are you free?
You're free because Jesus paid for you to be.
That's why you're free.
You're free to seek the higher calling of the Lord.
Now pick up your bed and walk.
# I'm pressin' on #
# I keep pressin' on #
# Yes, I'm pressin' on #
# To the higher calling of my Lord #
# Pressin' on #
# I keep pressin' on #
# I'm pressin' on #
# To the higher calling of my Lord #
# Shake the dust off your feet #
# Don't look back #
# Nothing can hold you down #
- # There's nothing you lack # - # Nothin' that you lack #
# Temptation, not an easy thing #
# Given the devil's reign #
# 'Cause he sinned I got no choice #
# It runs in my veins #
# I'm pressin' on #
# Goin', and goin', and goin' and goin' #
# Pressin' on #
# Can't hold me back #
# I'm pressin' on #
# To the higher calling of my Lord #
- # Pressin' on # - # Pressin on #
# Hey #
# On and on and on #
- # Pressin' on # - # Pressin' on #
# Yeah, I'm pressing on #
Fuck!
# To the higher calling of my Lord #
# Ooh, my Lord, yeah #
# Pressin' on #
# On and on and on and on #
# Pressin' on #
# Gotta, gotta keep pressin' on #
# To the higher calling of my Lord #
# Hey, gonna keep... #
"Because relations are always ambiguous
"and I continually fail to communicate
"because I continue to blame myself
"even when I'm not to blame.
"Because each failing has made me more remote
"from myself,
"from my babies, and from you...
"For all these reasons
"and many more still unknown...
"I must listen.
"I must look around more than ever.
I must leave."
All right.
Thank you.
Not with the girls.
- Yes, Robbie. - No.
Robbie!
You're not taking my kids!
What are you going to do?
What would you do?
Because I would, you know?
Perhaps I even would.
If you actually could, who knows?
But I'm not going to take your children away from you, Robbie,
so you don't have to... to try and threaten me.
# Someone's got it in for me #
# They're planting stories in the press #
# Whoever it is, I wish they'd cut it out #
# But when they will, I can only guess #
# They say I shot a man named Gray #
# And took his wife to Italy #
# She inherited a million bucks #
# And when she died, it came to me #
# I can't help it if I'm lucky #
# People see me all the time #
# And they just can't remember how to act #
# Their minds are filled with big ideas #
# Images #
# And distorted facts #
# Even you, yesterday #
# You had to ask me where it was at #
# I couldn't believe after all these years #
# You didn't know me any better than that #
# Sweet lady #
# Idiot wind #
# Blowing every time you move your mouth #
# Going down the back roads, headin' south #
# Idiot wind #
# Blowing every time you move your teeth #
# You're an idiot, babe #
# It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe #
# It was gravity which pulled us in #
# And destiny which broke us apart #
# You tamed the lion in my cage #
# But it just wasn't enough to change my heart #
# Now everything's a little upside-down #
# As a matter of fact, the wheels have stopped #
# What's good is bad, what's bad is good #
# You find out when you reach the top #
# You're on the bottom #
Some people have a deep...
...and try and shake this flytrap.
But they took away the meaning, Alice,
and I was a pawn in their game.
I'm telling you, if I don't bust out of here quick,
try and dope things out...
so long, Alice.
Jack, where are you gonna go?
First place that doesn't know my name.
So, good people of Riddle,
we come here with no intent to disrupt,
but only to commend you for your patient courage
in this time of change.
And in addition, we are pleased to announce
the evacuation fund has been established by the state of Missouri
as I pledged to you it would be.
Exactly what does that do for the common folk like myself?
Dollar compensation
will be made available to, uh, uh...
Eligible evacuees.
So what you want to do is throw some pennies
after you done took our lives!
I assure you, boy,
nobody here in the business of taking lives.
Might wanna explain that to Ms. Henry up there.
Yeah, or Ms. Montgomery.
Or how about Old Man Sykes?
Yeah, well, the way I see it,
you can either go through Riddle, or you can go around them,
so why are you going through our town?
Yeah, that's right, that's right, he said it.
Who is that talking?
You there.
- What's your name? - My name?
- Mm. - William.
William, did you say? Show your face.
Yes, sir.
I had... I had a friend...
However, thing is, sir, truly,
you got us hanging by a thread here.
Who are you? I know you.
I don't reckon so.
You ever live in Dallas County?
- Can't say I have. - New Mexico?
No!
You were talented. Boy, you could shoot.
You could sing a ditty like nobody I ever seen.
You got... You got any musical strain?
I never had the knack.
What we're saying is that you and your boys,
you go do as you please,
just so long as you stay clear of Riddle County.
Do you think you're speaking for the people, sir?
You are just stirring up lies and getting folks agitated.
Now, we have methods
for dealing with scoundrels like yourself.
Boys, bring him in!
Hey, hey, what do you think you're doing?
Quiet down!
No need to get off to cause another insurgence...
Take care of my horse! Take care of my horse!
Takes a thief to catch a thief.
# She cried both day and night #
# I know it because it was there #
# It's a milestone #
# But she's down on her luck #
# And she mainly so lonely #
# But to make him hard to buck #
# I was there #
I know I have a sickness...
festering somewhere.
I don't mean like Woody Guthrie,
wasting away in some hospital.
His vitals are stable.
What he needs is sleep.
I couldn't do that.
Decay like that.
That's nature's will, and I'm against nature.
I don't dig nature at all.
I don't think he can get back on stage.
He's gotten inside so many psyches,
and death is just such a part of the American scene right now.
It's the reds that make him mean.
He's already gone.
The only truly natural things are dreams,
which nature cannot touch with decay.
# When I'm there, she's all right #
# But she's not when I'm gone #
# Heaven knows that the answer #
# She don't call no one #
# She's the way #
# For sailing beautiful #
# She's mine for the one #
# And I lost a heavy tension #
# By temptation as it runs #
# But she don't follow me #
# But I'm not there #
# I'm gone #
# Now I'll cry tonight #
# Like I cried the night before #
# And I'll feast on the highs #
# But I'll dream about the door #
# So long, Jesus, savior #
# Blind faith #
# Is the tale #
# It don't have confirmation #
# She smiles fairly well #
# Now, when I choose to live it #
# I was born to love her #
# But she knows that #
# The kingdom waits #
# So high above her #
# And I run #
# Then I race #
# But it's not too fast to stand #
# But I don't perceive her #
# I'm not there #
Don't worry, Mr. B.
Your secret's safe with me.
God save the secrets.
And you too, Homer.
Come on.
# I don't need anybody now #
# Beside me to tell #
# And it's all revelation #
# I recede #
# Good night #
# She's a long-bodied beauty #
# But she's gone like a smile #
# And she's gone #
# Yeah, she's gone like the rainbow #
# That was shinin' yesterday #
# But now she's old beside me #
# And I'd like to hear... #
Henry!
Come on, Henry. Come on, girl.
Come on.
Come on!
Henry!
Come on!
Bye, Henry!
Good-bye, my lady.
# With your mercury mouth #
# In the missionary times #
# And your eyes like smoke #
# And your prayers like rhymes #
# And your silver cross #
# And your voice like chimes #
Doesn't really matter, you know,
what kind of nasty names people invent for the music.
But, uh, folk music is just a word, you know,
that I can't use anymore.
What I'm talking about is traditional music,
right, which is to say it's mathematical music,
it's based on hexagons.
But all these songs about, you know,
roses growing out of people's brains
and lovers who are really geese and swans
are turning into angels...
I mean, you know, they're not going to die.
They're not folk music songs.
They're political songs.
They're already dead.
You'd think that these traditional music people
would... would gather that mystery, you know,
is a traditional fact, you know,
seeing as they're all so full of mystery.
And contradictions.
Yeah, contradictions.
And chaos.
Yes, it's chaos, clocks, and watermelons...
You know, it's... it's everything.
These people actually think I have some kind of, uh...
fantastic imagination.
It gets very, uh, lonesome.
But traditional music
is just, uh...
It's too unreal to die.
It doesn't need to be protected.
You know, I mean, in that music is the only
true valid death you can feel today,
you know, off a record player.
But like everything else in great demand, people try to own it.
Has to do with, like, uh, the purity thing.
I think its meaninglessness is holy.
Everybody knows I'm not a folk singer.
People are always talking about freedom.
Freedom to live a certain way
without being kicked around.
Course, the more you live a certain way,
the less it feels like freedom.
Me? I can change during the course of a day.
I wake and I'm one person,
and when I go to sleep, I know for certain
I'm somebody else.
I don't know who I am, most of the time.
It's like you got yesterday,
today, and tomorrow, all in the same room.
There's no tellin' what can happen.
# Once upon a time, you dressed so fine #
# Threw the bums a dime in your prime #
# Didn't you? #
# People call, say beware, doll #
# You're bound to fall You thought they were all #
# Kiddin' you #
# You used to laugh about #
# Everybody that was hangin' out #
# Now you don't talk so loud #
# Now you don't seem so proud #
# About havin' to be scrounging #
# Your next meal #
# How does it feel? #
# How does it feel #
# To be without a home #
# Like a complete unknown #
# Like a rolling stone? #
# Things are crashing better #
# She's all too tight #
# In my neighborhood #
# She cried both day and night #
# She's a lone-hearted mystic #
# And she can't carry on #
# When I'm there, she's all right #
# Then she's not when I'm gone #
# Heaven knows that the answer #
# She don't call no one #
# She's the way forsaken beauty #
# She's mine for the one #
# And I've asked her hesitating #
# About temptation as it runs #
# She don't follow me #
# I'm leaving #
# I'm gone #
# Now, I'll cry tonight #
# Like I cried the night before #
# And I'll feast on the highway #
# But I'll dream about the door #
# It's alone #
# She's forsaken #
# By her fate #
# Words to tell #
# It don't have approximation #
# She smiles fairly well #
# Her smile is contagious #
# I was born to love her #
# But she knows that the kingdom #
# Waits so high above her #
# And I run #
# But I race #
# But it's not too fast to stand #
# But I've got to be free #
# And I'm not there #
# I'm gone #
# Well, it's too hard to stay here #
# And I don't want to leave #
# It's so hard for so few #
# Sleep, but she's hard #
# Too hard to breathe #
# It's a load #
# It's a crime #
# The way she mauls me around #
# But she don't phone to hate me #
# But it's time to make the clown #
# Yes, I believe that it's rightful #
# I believe it in my mind #
# I been told #
# Like I slept #
# Before I carry on the grind #
# Yes, the soul judge had told her #
# That I should carry on #
# The child's been hurt and alone #
# Then I'm gone #
# Mama, take this badge off of me #
# I can't use it anymore #
# It's gettin' dark #
# Much too dark to see #
# Feel I'm knocking on heaven's door #
# Knock, knock, knocking on heaven's door #
# Mama, wipe this blood from my face #
# I'm sick and tired of the war #
# Don't know if it's night #
# Or if it's the sun #
# Rising higher #
# Scared I'm knockin' on heaven's door #
# Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh #