Single / Track
The Ballad of the Night the Clocks All Quit (And the Government Failed)
Lyrics
Gather 'round people gonna tell you a tale
'Bout the time that the clocks all quit and the government failed
Back when the agents tracked all the postmen down
And they found all they needed to know in the second-class mail
And then hauled off everyone 'cept for me and a couple of friends
They forgot in the Nottingham jail
Now that jailor, he saw all the smoke in the air
And he wished he was there
'Stead of inside watching our cell
So we said "Go do your share, we ain't goin' nowhere"
He agreed, grabbed his gun with a smile and then wished us all well
'Fore he got to his car, we had cut through the bars
Snuck outside and sat back just to watch
'Til the curtain fell.
Now the first thing I noticed when we hit the street
Was the Seventh Fleet
They was cruisin' the center of town
No one seemed real clear 'bout who had sent them there
But they sure looked grand
With the band, the balloons and the clowns
And they played "Anchors away" for the rest of the day
'Cept the times that they'd lower their guns
And shoot some renegade down
Yes and John the Baptist and Uncle Sam
They were carryin' the plans
For some new kind of object of faith
When this renegade band with their guns in their hands
Stopped them both and demanded a look
In the top secret case
But just in the nick of time
Those renegades were stricken blind
By a low flying plane with no name and no number to trace
But just the same John lost his head
And he said he was going to run
But someone held him down and Sam tied up his hands
He cried out to his boss but he couldn't get across
'Cause the lines were all down
And the crowd cheered him on from the stands
But he finally did get away
You can see him today
He sells silver plates and still waits
For the boss to call back
And Attila the Hun and his Austrian son
Left their hideout in Rio to fly out and relive the past