Jean the Birdman

David Sylvian & Robert Fripp
from the album The First Day

Hat's off to Roy Harper John Schertzer, for introducing me to David Sylvian.

I've been waiting for years to hear a Buddhist cowboy song. . . Albeit, this is a winged cowboy. But that's nothing too unusual.

Unfortunately, the video doesn't really go with the words. I'd skip the pictures (interesting as they may be) and go with the text on this one.



He gambles on the saddle
He's pulling on the mane
He thrashes at the horse's back
Ambition is a bloody game

Horse doesn't want to jump
The river looks too wide
Well, he faces every hurdle
With a nervous state of mind

Stay with me, breathe deeply,
Take three paces back,
Turn and make a full attack

The gods are laughing
And they're tugging at the reins
But he's taken to his wings
And they hit the bank

Heaven may stone him,
But Jean the Birdman pulls it off (x2)

His finger's on the trigger
His eye is on the clock
He doesn't give the game away
And quickly fires the bullets off

Six hearts cut short
Still dreaming they're alive
Blown 'round in dusty circles
Like an absent state of mind

Who hunter? Who victim?
God love America
He surely doesn't love him

Hitching out of nowhere
Lines of traffic knee-deep
A chance to stave the morning off
And get some sleep

Heaven may stone him,
But Jean the Birdman pulls it off (x2)

He wears a crucifix
His mother left to him
It's wrapped in chains around his heart
Rusted and wafer thin

Don't count on luck son,
All the angels sing
Don't need to check a weather vane
We all know what tomorrow brings

Life is a cattle farm
Coyotes with the mules
Life is a bullring
For taking risks and flouting rules

Who needs a safety net
The world is open wide
Just look out for the card sharks
And the danger signs

Heaven may stone him,
But Jean the Birdman pulls it off (x4)