Tape from California (Live)

Lyrics

[Intro] Tape from California, let's take it away [Verse 1] Who's that coming down the road? A sailor from the sea Looks a lot like me I'd know him anywhere, had to stare Feathers on his fingertips A halo 'round his spine Must have lost his mind He should be put away, right away In the corner of the night He handed me his water pipe His eyes were searching deep inside my head Here's what he said [Chorus] Sorry I can't stop and talk now I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow But I'll send you a tape from California [Verse 2] New York City has exploded And it's crashed upon my head Dove beneath the bed Fighting biting nails, turning pale Landlord's at my window And the burglar's at my door I can't take it anymore I guess I'll have to fly, it's worth a try Someone's banging on the wall But there's no party to recall Singer of the shadows of his soul So he's been told [Chorus] Sorry I can't stop and talk now I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow But I'll send you a tape from California [Guitar Solo] [Chorus] Sorry I can't stop and talk now I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow But I'll send you a tape from California [Verse 3] So who's that coming down the road? A sailor from the sea Looks a lot like me I'd know him anywhere, had to stare Now a fire 'round his fingertips A song around his spine He must have found his mind He should be put away, anyway Surrounded by the slaughter Now I'm boarding at the border When the echoes of my ecstasy appear Wish I was here [Chorus] Sorry I can't stop and talk now I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow But I'll send you a tape from California [Outro] As you know, I died in Chicago I lost my life in a— And I was giv— I went to heaven Because I was very good and I sang very lyrical songs And I got to talk to God and he said "Well, it's all over here on Earth" "And uh, a couple of days left, what do you wanna do?" "You can go back and be anybody you want" So I said— So I thought, in my inner soul, who do I wanna be? And I came up with the answer The guy I wanted to be was The man who was the king of, of pop The king of music The king of show business Elvis Presley And if there's any hope for this, for America, it lies in a revolution And if there's any hope for a revolution in America It lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara Because if you don't do that, you're just beating your head against the wall Or the cop down the street will be beating your head against the wall And that's Elvis Presley You know, so the thing is We've gotta discover where he is He, I think, is the ultimate American artist He has the root of American music I've lost my voice now, but I'm gonna try to sing him anyway Here it comes