Artist: Jethro Tull Album: Rock Island {1989}

Breaking hearts in a market town
She eats filet of soul and washes it down with sparkling wine
Nice girl, but a bad girl's better
Qualifies in both ways to my mind
But now she's kissing Willie
 
She shows a leg - shows it damn well
Knows how to drive a man right back to being a child
Yeah, well, she's a nice girl, but her bad girl's better
I can read it in her cheating eyes and know that in a while
Well, she'll be kissing Willie, my best friend, Willie
 
Willie stands and Willie falls, woo
Willie hangs his head behind grey factory walls, yeah
Well, she's a nice girl, but her bad girl's better
Me and Willie just can't help coming when she calls - calls
Now, she's kissing Willie, my best friend, Willie, Willie
Kissing Willie, Willie
Kissing Willie, kissing Willie, Willie, Willie
Kissing Willie, Willie, my best friend, Willie
Kissing Willie, Willie, Willie
Kissing Willie, kissing Willie, Willie
Kissing Willie, woo

I wear a hair shirt round my shoulder
Got cold stew in my spoon
And I'm falling on my head, lifting feet of lead
Now it's got me baying at the moon
There's a race on for tomorrow
I'm stretching out for what might have been
Going to come out from the night, get my second sight
Play rough - you know what I mean

I'm going for the kill
I'm going tooth and nail up that dusty hill
On the rattlesnake trail
The rattlesnake trail, woo, the rattlesnake trail
 
Got the law laid down to the left of me
Got the real world to the right
Heading up through the middle with my cat and my fiddle
Yeah, looking for a fight
I�m going to ride hard in bandit country
On the blind side of the bend
Keep my nose to the wind while the rabbit's skinned
Bed down at the journey's end, be a rattlesnake

I'm going for the kill
I'm going tooth and nail up that dusty hill
Rattlesnake trail

I'm going on the rattlesnake - the rattlesnake - the rattlesnake trail
The rattlesnake trail, the rattlesnake trail
 
Going to be with wolves in winter
Run in angry packs by day
But when you give a dog a bone he has to be alone
Growl, keep the other dogs away
See that thin moon on the mountain
See that cold star in the sky
Going to bring them down, shake them to the ground
Put that apple in the pie, be a rattlesnake

I'm going for the kill
I'm going tooth and nail up that dusty hill
On the rattlesnake trail
The rattlesnake trail, woo, the rattlesnake trail
The rattlesnake trail, woo, the rattlesnake trail
The rattlesnake trail, woo, the rattlesnake trail
The rattlesnake trail, woo, the rattlesnake trail
The rattlesnake trail, woo, the rattlesnake trail
The rattlesnake trail, woo, the rattlesnake trail
The rattlesnake trail, woo, the rattlesnake trail

In the last hours of a sunset rendezvous
Chill breeze against tide that carries me from you
I got a job in a southern city, got some lead-free in my tank
Now I must whisper goodbye - I'm bound for the mainland
 
Island in the city cut by a cold sea
People moving on an ocean, groundswell of humanity
 
Now, the sun breaks through rain as I climb Glen Shiel
On the trail of those old cattlemen who drove their bargain south again
And in the eyes of those five, five sisters of Kintail
There's a wink of seduction from the mainland
 
Island in the city cut by a cold sea
People moving on an ocean, groundswell of humanity
Storm-lashed on the high-rise, their words a spray to the wind
Blown like silent laughter falling on ears of tin
 
Take my heart and take my brawn
Take by stealth or take by storm - set my brain to cruise
I can see the glow of suburb lights
I'm fresh from the out-world singing the mainland blues, oh, the mainland blues
 
There was a girl where I came from
Seems like a long time, long time gone by
Wears the west wind in her hair
She calls from the hill, yeah, she calls in my mainland blues, the mainland blues
Now call it for me Martin

It�s the mainland blues
 
There's a coast road that winds to heaven's door
Where a fat ferry floats on muted diesel roar
And there's a light on the hillside and there's a flame in her eyes
But how cold the lights burn on the mainland

Island in the city cut by a cold sea
People moving on an ocean, groundswell of humanity
Storm-lashed on the high-rise, their words a spray to the wind
Blown like silent laughter and falling on ears of tin
In my mainland blues

Working on the late shift - first drink of the day
Pull a chair up to the table, have to look the other way
What kind of place am I in and who's this over here
Shaking through the silver bubbles climbing through my beer
Won't let it move me, but I can't sit still
Could you meet the eyes of a working girl undressed to kill
 
Staring through the smoke haze - plaid shirts in the night
Well, I'm making sure that everything is zipped up tight
Who's that jumping on the table putting tonic in my gin
Brushing silken dollars on her cold white skin
Won't let it move me, but I can't sit still
Could you meet the eyes of a working girl undressed to kill
 
She could have been sweet seventeen, there again, well, so could I
There was a teardrop sparkle on the inside of her thigh
Going to fetch myself a cold beer, I've got to get a grip
Find some place to touch down, find a landing strip
Won't let it move me, but I can't sit still
Can you meet the eyes of a working girl undressed to kill, yeah

Who's that jumping on the table putting tonic in my gin
Brushing silken dollars on her cold white skin
Won't let it move me, but I can't sit still
Can you meet the eyes of a working girl undressed to kill
 
Last one out is a cold duck paddling down the road
I wait outside, my motor running - got a warm dream to unload
Can I face her in the sunshine, in the harsh real light of day
She walks out with recognition in her eyes - I look away
Won't let it move me, but I can't sit still
Couldn't meet the eyes of a working girl undressed to kill

Undressed to kill

Savage night on a misty island
Lights wink out in the canyon walls
Two old boys in a stolen racer
Black rubber contrails in the unwashed halls
And all roads out of here seem to lead right back to the Rock Island - Rock Island
 
I've gone here to Paris - Paris, London - London
Even riding on a jumbo to Bombay
The long haul back holds faint attraction
But the people here know they're okay
See the girl following the red balloon walking all alone on her Rock Island - Rock Island

Doesn't everyone have their own Rock Island
Their own little patch of sand
Where the slow waves crawl and your angels fall
And you find you can hardly stand
And just as you're drowning, well, the tide goes down
You're back on your Rock Island, Rock Island
 
Hey there, girlie with the torn dress, shaking
Who was it touched you, who was it ruined your day - Rock Island
Whose footprint calling card
And what they want stepping on your beach anyway
I'll be your life raft out of here, but you'd only drift right back to your Rock Island - Rock Island
 
Hey, boy with the personal stereo
Nothing 'tween the ears but that hard rock sound
Playing to your empty room, empty guitar tune
No use waiting for that CBS to come around
Cos all roads out of here seem to lead right back to your Rock Island - Rock Island

Doesn't everyone have their own Rock Island
Their own little patch of sand
Where the slow waves crawl and your angels fall
And you find you can hardly stand
And just as you're drowning, well, the tide goes down
You're back on your Rock Island, Rock Island

Rock Island, Rock Island, Rock Island
Rock, Rock, Rock, Rock Island

I walked out in the city night
A burning in my eyes like it was broad daylight
And it was hot down there in the crowd
The stars went out behind the thunder cloud
Chatter in the air like a telegraph line
Big drops hissing on the neon sign
Thumping in my heart and it's hurting me to see
Smokestack blowing, now they're pouring heavy water on me
Oh, pouring heavy water on me
Oh, heavy water
 
She was a southern girl, we stared man to man
I move like a stranger in this strange land
She was a round hole, I was a square peg
I watched the little black specks running down her leg
Didn't seem to mind that dirty rain coming down
Shirt hanging open, she was wet and brown
Thumping in my heart and it's hurting me to see
Smokestack blowing, now they're pouring heavy water on me
Oh, pouring heavy water on me
Oh, pouring heavy water

Heavy water
Pouring heavy water
 
What goes up has to fall back down
It's no night to be out dancing in a party town
When it runs hot and it runs so wide
Running in the street like a thin black tide
Chatter in the air like a telegraph line
Big drops hissing on the neon sign
Thumping in my heart and it's hurting me to see
Smokestack blowing, now they're pouring heavy water on me
Oh, pouring heavy water on me
Oh, pouring heavy water on me
Oh, pouring heavy water on me
Oh, pouring heavy water on me

Hope everybody's ringing on their own bell this fine morning, yeah
Hope everyone's connected to that long distance phone
Old man, he's a mountain
Old man, he's an island
Old man, he's a-waking says
"I'm going to call, call all my children home."
 
Hope everybody's dancing to their own drum this fine morning, yeah
The beat of distant Africa or a Polish factory town
Old man, he's calling for his supper
He�s calling for his whiskey
Calling for his sons and daughters, yeah
Calling, calling all his children round

Sharp ears are tuned in to the drones and chanters warming, yeah
Mist blowing round some headland somewhere in your memory
Everyone is from somewhere
Even if you've never been there
So take a minute to remember the part of you
That might be the old man calling me
 
How many wars you're fighting out there, this winter's morning, yeah
Maybe it's always time for another Christmas song
Old man is asleep now
He's got appointments to keep, now
Dreaming of his sons and his daughters
Yeah, proving, proving that the blood is strong

Money speaks, soft hearts lose
The truth only whispers, it's the whaler's dues
I've been running on diesel, been running on coal
Running on borrowed time, if truth's to be told
Two whales in the ocean cruising the night
Search for each other before we turn out their light

Been accused of deep murder on the North Atlantic swell
But I have three hungry children and a young wife as well
And behind stand generations of hard hunting men
Who raised a glass to the living and went killing again

Are you with me - no
Are you with me - no

Money speaks, soft hearts lose
The truth only whispers, now pay the whaler's dues
Can you forgive me - no

Money speaks, soft hearts lose
The truth only whispers, now pay the whaler's dues

Now, I'm old and I sit land-locked in a back-country jail
To reflect on all of our sins and the death of the whale
Send me back down the ages, put me to sea once again
When the oceans were full, yes, and men would be men

Can you forgive me - no
Can you forgive me - no
Can you forgive me - no

Marty loved the sound of the stolen mandolin
Somebody took it on a dare in the nighttime
Ran up to the radio calling out to the wind
Now, bring it, bring it back at least an hour before flight time
It was a souvenir but it was a right arm missing
Swap a woodwork rhythm for a humbucking top line

Big Riff, rough boy, wants to be a singer in a band
A little slow in the brain box, but he had a quick right hand
Run left, run right - everywhere he look
Nobody watching, no, but that was all he took last night

Running on the power of a stolen mandolin
Steal a little inspiration, steal a little muscle
Will he wake in the morning, wondering - was it really worth it
So, make a little deal, yeah, make a little hustle

Ringing on the radio, got a proposition for those English boys
I'll make the sing-song, you can make the background noise
One, two, three, four - one bar and in
Give you back the mando if you'll let this singer sing tonight, tonight

Running on the power of a stolen mandolin
Steal a little inspiration, steal a little muscle
Wake in the morning - was it really worth it
So, come one make a deal, yeah, make a little hustle

Marty loved the sound of the stolen mandolin
Big Riff took it on a dare in the nighttime
Now it's four o'clock and we're waiting at the sound-check
Looking for a face staring in from the sunshine
We got two strong lawmen from the sheriff's office
They're going to lift Big Riff before he plays the first line

Big Riff, rough boy, wants to be a singer in a band
Yeah, help him on the stage, now, put that microphone in his hand
Think hard, think right, nothing in his mind
So Riff did a runner, but he left the mandolin behind, behind

And Marty loved the sound of his mandolin
Running on the power of a stolen mandolin
Steal a little inspiration, steal a little muscle
So, make a little deal, yeah, make a little hustle

Strange avenues where you lose all sense of direction
And everywhere is Main Street in the winter sun
The wino sleeps, cold coat lined with the money section
Looking like a record cover from 1971

And here am I - warm feet and a limo waiting
Shall I make us both feel good - would a dollar do
But in your streets I have no credit rating
And it might not take a lot to be alone just like you

Heading up and out now from your Rock Island
Really good to have had you here with me
And somewhere in the crowd I think I hear a young girl whisper
Whisper, "Are you ever lonely, just like me?"