I Need You

Dan Bern

Walking around the happiest place in the world

But all I do is wonder if your hair's still curled

South of Brownsville, Texas south of Miami Beach

But all it means to me is that you're further out of reach

Everywhere is sand and sun blue sky, water too

I need you



The Spanish moss is hanging and you find a polished stone

You pocket it for luck and then you walk on alone

They'll rent you a bicycle with the tires blown

They'll cook you up a blackened fish and strip it to the bone

A slave ship just came in

I been talking to the crew

I need you



In that house Hemingway is boxing in the back

I go down to the library and check out all the facts

Nowadays it's hard to write a line my own thoughts bore me

I found me an island kid who says he'll do it for me

I'm wiping all my tears away so no one has a clue

That I need you



The last plane out of Saigon did not know that it was

Every man in prison thinks he's locked up for a cause

I need something to do my violin needs to sound

I'm gonna see if Ernest wants to go a couple rounds

Sometimes you get lost and you find something new

I need you



Some bird's flapping in the road on some crazy madman's string

Something's messed up with his wing something's messed up with my Everything



So here's the truth at last I tell you

Hemingway is dead

And everybody wants to find a steak that's slightly red

I thought I could escape myself by just not getting dressed

I thought I could escape you by coming to Key West

Sometimes you get lost and you don't find something new

I need you