Can You Please Crawl Out of Your Window?

from Lay It All Down by Mike Lawson & Friends

/

about

Bob Dylan's A-side single, which had the flip-side Subterranean Homesick Blues on it, making this one kind of a forgotten gem. This was Keaggy's idea and I think he expected I would stay more true to the Dylan arrangement with The Band behind him, and the break in-between verses, but I was hearing more of a Byrds-inspired thing.

I recorded the guitar and bass, and harmonica, then sent it to Joe, got my drums, sent it off to Scott Guberman in San Francisco who nailed a nice Hammond part, as always. I gave it to Phil, and he played a couple of electric 12 parts on it and a very Byrd's style solo.

But to me, something was still missing, and I was thinking, "I wonder what Doug Dillard would have done on this one?" Well, Doug shuffled off this mortal coil some time ago, and that really left one guy who could pull off that banjo thing to this folk rock song, and that was Nitty Gritty Dirt Band co-founder John McEuen. He played on the track, and suddenly everything was coming together and made for a fun retro-folk-rock moment.

lyrics

He sits in your room, his tomb, with a fist full of tacks
Preoccupied with his vengeance
Cursing the dead that can’t answer him back
I’m sure that he has no intentions
Of looking your way, unless it’s to say
That he needs you to test his inventions

Can you please crawl out your window?
Use your arms and legs it won’t ruin you
How can you say he will haunt you?
You can go back to him any time you want to

He looks so truthful, is this how he feels
Trying to peel the moon and expose it
With his businesslike anger and his bloodhounds that kneel
If he needs a third eye he just grows it
He just needs you to talk or to hand him his chalk
Or pick it up after he throws it

Can you please crawl out your window?
Use your arms and legs it won’t ruin you
How can you say he will haunt you?
You can go back to him any time you want to

Why does he look so righteous while your face is so changed
Are you frightened of the box you keep him in
While his genocide fools and his friends rearrange
Their religion of the little tin women
That backs up their views but your face is so bruised
Come on out the dark is beginning

Can you please crawl out your window?
Use your arms and legs it won’t ruin you
How can you say he will haunt you?
You can go back to him any time you want to

Copyright © 1965, 1966 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993, 1994 by Special Rider Music
Used by Permission

credits

from Lay It All Down, released October 7, 2022
Mike Lawson - Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Harmonica
Phil Keaggy - Guitars
John McEuen - Banjo
Joe Montague - Drums
Scott Guberman - Hammond Organ

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Mike Lawson & Friends image

Mike Lawson & Friends Nashville, Tennessee

Mike Lawson has, over 30 years, recorded and/or performed together with Merl Saunders, Vince Welnick, Vassar Clements, Pete Sears, Gary Talley, John McEuen, Bob Welch, Dennis Robbins, Joe Louis Walker, Jorma Kaukonen, Phil Keaggy, Jack Casady, Scott Guberman, Dianne Davidson, Noah Wall, Tyra Juliette, Bill Vitt, Rob Wasserman, Michael Cleveland, Phil Madeira, and a host of other amazing friends. ... more

contact / help

Contact Mike Lawson & Friends

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Mike Lawson & Friends, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now