Paul Kaplan - Life on This Planet

Credits
Paul Kaplan – vocals, guitar, harmonica, cuatro (1,11)
Robin Greenstein – vocals (1, 6), banjo (3, 6, 12) guitar (1), percussion (5)
Rob Lanter – 2nd guitar (5)
Billy McComiskey – button accordion (6)
Jordan Kaplan – piano (7)
Andy Polon – 2nd guitar (10)
Mark Dann – bass
Claude Demers – percussion (5)

SIDE 1
Life on This Planet

My darling please come to me
Let me tell you where we are
Stranded on a desert
And I thank my lucky stars there is

Chorus:
Life on this planet
I know we can see it
I know we can live it every day.

Oh won’t you be my lover
We can ride the world around
And dance all day together
Surrounded by the sound of

Chorus

We can find an oasis
In the middle of the wind
And blow our babies kisses
As they join us in the swim of

Chorus

And when our children leave us
And our water all is gone
We can smile into the sunset
And in sadness move along leaving

Life on this planet
And know we have seen it
And know we have lived it every day.

The Mermaid

I never fished for you
I never wished for you
I never listened for you but I find

You floated into me
And you said things to me
That accidentally flooded my mind.

Chorus:
I thought that I had learned
To keep from being turned
Inside out and upside down
By the misty mermaid who won't be drowned.

Then you swam on from me
And now you’ve gone from me
I guess I'll always be falling behind.

Chorus:

Call Me the Whale
Tune: “The Greenland Whale Fisheries”

Call me the whale for that’s what I am
And that’s what I aim to be
You may call yourselves the kings of the land
But I am the king of the sea, brave boys
Yes, I am the king of the sea.

You came after me in your matchstick boats
With your harpoons poised for the kill
When I looked you in the eye I never saw you cry
But I know that I gave you a chill, brave boys
I know that I gave you a chill.

But I didn’t ever mean you any harm, brave boys
When I sent you to the bottom with my tail
I only meant to show you that you should have been at home
Instead of on the ocean chasing whales, brave boys
Instead of on the ocean chasing whales.

But you never got the message so more and more you came
Till I ran out of places to hide
When your boats got so big that I could not bring you down
Then I knew you had turned the tide. brave boys
I knew you had turned the tide.

Now you hunt me down in your factory ships
And you never even touch me with your hands
In the morning I am playing with my babies in the waves
In the afternoon I’m packed into your cans, brave boys
In the afternoon I’m packed into your cans.

You’ve gotten so efficient with your instruments of death
That by now I’m barely alive
But if you treat each other the way you’ve treated me
I think I’m going to survive, brave boys
Yes I think I’m going to survive.

Trouble With Mama

Chorus:
Trouble with Mama, Papa’s gone
Another man in his chair
Ain’t no use in going home
Papa’s never there.

See her at the frying pan cooking up some eggs
For that other man who's looking at her legs.

Chorus

I ain’t about to stop her but it breaks my heart
Seeing Mom and Papa so far apart.

Chorus

But I think I’ll try one more time in a week or two
Climb the stairs and hope he’s there
But my dream won’t come true, there’s still

Chorus

So I’ll stay where I am with my little Eve
Love her the best I can until I have to leave.

Chorus

Traffic Jam in the Zócalo*

Now me and Sam drove into town at the start of market day
Everyone knew who we were but no one backed away
I had five dollars in my pockets and fifty in my shoes
The way the natives kissed my feet I knew I stood to lose. There’s

Chorus:
A traffic jam in the Zócalo
Way down south in Mexico
It’s Uncle Sam on the lam
A long way from Chicago.

I began to hop from shop to shop till my arms were filled with loot
I bought a set of dishes and a fancy cowboy suit
Then I grabbed a hot tamale and headed for the square
To find that human folly was making progress there. There was

Chorus

Camping cars from California and taxicabs from town
And tourist busses filled with us all tried to run me down
I dashed to the cathedral but much to my chagrin
There was a hot rod Ford with a plastic Lord where the altar should have been. There’s

Chorus

I bought a picture postcard and retreated to the car
Where I found the Holy Trio with Jesus on guitar
He said "Something tells me you need a song to sing
So here's a tune I wrote for you and it doesn't cost a thing:”

And he sang:
“Hay mucho trafico en el Zócalo
En el sur se México
Es Tio Sam viajando
Lejos de Chicago.”

Well I threw the man a peso and set out for the States
But every time I’d hit a bump I’d break a few more plates
My ten-gallon sombrero with the dingle balls hanging down blew out the window and my jumping beans jumped away
But I brought back more than I bargained for since I heard that poor man say: There’s

Chorus

*The Zócalo is the central square in Mexican towns

We Shall Stay Here

This was an empty space until our love appeared
Now that we found our place, found our place
We shall stay here.

If we can sing in tune even the stars may hear
Sounds from a tiny room, tiny room
We shall stay here.

Out of the earth we sprang, I know
Into the earth we'll go

But till our voices break harmony hides our fear
Under the love we make, love we make
We shall stay here.

SIDE 2
She Came From Mississippi

She came from Mississippi I know it sounds like
Other songs you’ve heard before, it’s not the same
She left her husband in a cabin came up to the city
I was looking for her when she came.

He followed close behind and now and then she needed him
Underneath the towers it was hard to walk alone
She set out to build a life in her own image
He settled back in his Mississippi home.

We are traveling through the world
Looking for friends wherever we may be
She found me.

And I love to see her laughing face in front of me
But when she has to cry I offer her my hand
Like when the long-distance telephone is asking her
“Is it better with another man?”

“Oh no no no
No no no no can’t you understand?
Bicycles magazines factories tambourines
Everybody does the best that they can.”

We are traveling through the world
Trying to be free and easy
I'm glad she found me.

She came from Mississippi I know it sounds like
Other songs you've heard before, it's not the same.

I'm Not Broke, Only Bent

I’ve worked on the assembly line since 1962
What else could a country boy in Motor City do
Puttin’ parts in motorcars is just like plantin’ corn
But a corn plant can’t be shut down like my plant was this morn, But

Chorus:
I’m not broke, only bent
And even though I’m feeling low and I haven’t got a cent
I’m not broke, only bent
And I’ll get straightened out some day
And roll along the great highway
Just like a brand new Chevrolet that’s never had a dent.

They say we can’t compete with all the cars from overseas
But I can build a car as well as any Japanese
And I could have told them years ago if they had only asked
Just take the big gas guzzlers and cut ’em all in half.

Chorus

I sure have had a lot of ups and downs throughout the years
One thing they have taught me is how to shift my gears
My motor is straining as I climb another hill
It looks like I won’t make it but I promise you I will. ’Cause

Chorus

Polly Vaughn
(traditional, arranged by Paul Kaplan)

Come all you young fellows that carry a gun
I’ll have you go home by the light of the sun
For young Jimmy was a-fowling, a-fowling along
When he shot his own true love in the room* of a swan.

When first he went to her and found it was she
He was shaking and trembling his eyes scarce could see
“So now you are dead love and your sorrows are o’er
Fare thee well my dear Polly, I shall see you no more.”

Then home went young Jimmy with his dog and his gun
Saying “Uncle, dear Uncle, have you heard what I've done?
Cursèd be that old gunsmith who made me this gun
For I've shot my own true love in the room of a swan.”

Then out came bold Uncle with his locks hanging grey
Saying “Jimmy, dear, Jimmy, don’t you run away
Don’t you leave your own country till the trial comes on
For you ne’er shall be hangèd for the crime you have done.”

Then the trial came on and Pretty Polly appeared
Saying “Uncle, dear Uncle, let Jimmy go clear
For my apron was wrapped around me when he took me for a swan
And his poor heart lay bleeding for Polly his own.”

*disguise

Paradise

Chorus:
I’m telling you once, telling you twice
I’m heading for paradise.

One of these days I’m gonna jump and shout
And suddenly know what it's all about
One of these days I’m gonna sit on the shore
Walk on the water, float on the floor

One of these days I’m gonna fall in love
From the tip of my toes to the halo above.

Chorus

One of these days I’m gonna give a yell
And pull myself from the gates of hell
One of these days I’m gonna take a breath
Say goodbye to the days of death
I’ll face the rising sun
All the way to kingdom come.

Chorus

One of these days I’m gonna hear the word
And hit the dust like a gooney bird
One of these days I’ll remember how
I got to where I’m going now
I’ll fill that day with laughter
Split my sides till the morning after.

Chorus

One of these days I’m gonna see the light
And take my place in paradise
One of these days I’m gonna make a stand
And stake my claim in the promised land
One of these days I’m gonna meet my maker
I hear tell She’s one hell of a shaker
I’m telling you once, telling you twice
Won’t you come on along
You know it sure feels nice
To be heading for paradise.

Henry the Accountant
Tune: “John Henry”

Henry was an accountant
He worked with a pencil in his hand
If you had something you needed added up
Then Henry the accountant was your man
Henry the accountant was your man.
I said Henry the accountant was your man Lord, Lord
Henry the accountant was your man.

When Henry was a little baby
Sittin’ on his daddy’s knee
He picked up a crayon and a little piece of paper
He said “Two plus one equals three,” etc.

Now the man who bought the first calculator
He thought he was mighty fine
He walked up to Henry with a sneer on his lip
He said “Your job is gonna be mine.”

So Henry stood up and drew his weapon
He said “A man isn’t anything but a man
We’ll have ourselves a race and I’ll put you in your place
Or I’ll die with my pencil in my hand.”

So each man grabbed a fifty-pound ledger
And Henry went to work with all his might
Though his hand was getting cramped and his shirt was getting damp
Still he swore that he would not give up the fight.

After three long hours in battle
The man with the machine moved out ahead
He had Henry beat till on the final sheet
Suddenly his batteries went dead.

So Henry beat that calculator
Now his powers could never be denied
But the terrible strain had been too much for his brain
So he laid down his glasses and he died.

So they buried Henry in the graveyard
With his trusty pencil and his pad
And when their checks don’t clear they always shed a tear
For the last human being who could add.

Round Again

As the waves beat the driftwood of a stormy afternoon
I hear the sea gulls crying and I hum a hollow tune
A flower has fallen and a flower will bloom
And I'll be round again, I’ll be round again.

As a newlywed moves in and a widow passes by
I dig myself a grave and I find a piece of sky
The sun spills a tear from her dusty swollen eye
And I’ll be round again, I'll be round again.

As the doctor takes a pill and begins to fix the night
The nurse takes my pulse and gives it back all right
The screw takes a turn in the cork of my life
And I’ll be round again, I’ll be round again.

As the ocean rolls in rhythm to a song that never ends
And the ink inches onward through the history of men
I will write another line when I find another pen
And I’ll be round again, I’ll be round again.