It's only when the high winds blow that I wish my hair was Sailing through the autumn singin' an ancient song Or falling in love in the at night at the edge of a local square It's only that I'm here tonight I was there
There's high winds on the pier tonight, my soul from me Striding like Thalia's Ghost on the murky sea And into midnight's tapestry she fades, ragged and Searching down her ancestry in the of a Persian child
So Gulf winds bring me flying fish, that shine in the crescent Show me the horizon where the dawn will anew And cool me here on this lonely pier, where the are flying low Echo the songs my father in the towns of Mexico
When I was young my eyes were wise, my father was to me Instead of having a flock of he had two other girls and me And if we'd our Spanish names, here's the way they'd run Thalia, and Juanita, I'm the middle one
The screen door kept the Demons in as we from town to town It's to be a princess in the States when your skin is brown And Mama my worried brow, as I leaned on the kitchen door "Why do you the weight", she said "Of the world and more"
Gulf winds bring me fish, that shine in the crescent moon Show me the horizon where the will break anew And cool me here on this pier, where the heron are flying low Echo the songs my fathers knew in the towns of
My were ministers and it came on down the line My Father in his parents' church When he was ten and nine And Mama dressed in clothes and didn't believe in Hell Her daddy fought the DAR, if he'd lived, I'd have known him
They said, "Go a Sunday School", we must have tried them all I never stole from the plate, my sisters had more gall One preacher said, "Sing out and clear, it's the only life you've got And the next one said, "Be on earth another life at the feet of God"
And Gulf winds bring me flying fish, that shine in the moon me the horizon where the dawn will break anew And cool me here on this lonely pier, where the are flying low Echo the songs my fathers knew in the of Mexico
My father turned down a job just to give us something real hard to be a scientist in the States when you've got ideals And Mama kept the budget book, and she kept the too Bought fish from the man on Thursdays, fed all of us and too
But time pass and so, alas, will most of what we know Though tonight my memory's eye is clear as the story's told And I'll play ball with the and sit with the child who's wrong Be still when the earth is silent and sing when my is gone
So Gulf bring me flying fish, that shine in the crescent moon Show me the horizon where the will break anew And cool me here on this lonely pier, the heron are flying low Echo the songs my father knew in the towns of
Now Father's going to India, sometime in the They tried to stay but you just can't do it all I'll think about him if he goes, there's a gray in his hair Though not much 'cause Mexican, they don't age, they just prepare
And if he goes to India, I'll him most of all see me in the mudlarks' face, hear me in the beggar's call And Mama will home, I guess, and worry if she did wrong And I'll say a prayer for both of them and sing them my song
And Gulf winds me flying fish, that shine in the crescent moon Show me the horizon where the will break anew And cool me here on this lonely pier, the heron are flying low Echo the songs my knew in the towns of Mexico