Lyrics: Ketch Secor/Critter Fuqua Music: Ketch Secor/Critter Fuqua Come out come out wherever you roam There’s time enough for one last song So gather in close before the music fades Kick up your heels, lay down your stones Roll over backwards in your sweet baby’s arms And rise like Lazarus, the band is beginning to play The last American waltz
We were young when we carved Out our names in the sky With a song on our tongues and our hearts on the line On an unruly vessel we sailed in the perilous wind We cut through the irons all Jake-legged and numb To the mystical pounding of Indian drums Now we’re called all together To join in this motley parade
Oh the fire in the furnace the fog in the air Sparks flew like tinsel all down your red hair Making desperate love where there’s no hope to spare All the while hear the wild reckless tune
Is anybody listening, can anybody hear The last American waltz?
Oh this hammer don’t ring, this cannon don’t roar This train bound for glory don’t stop here no more The scrap heaps are piling with heroes Whose ship has sailed Hush pretty baby rally the men The patroller’s sweeping all over the land and he’ll snuff out your songs If you join in his desperate crusade Well me I’m not treading down no trail of tears Just going out where the air is clear And you’ll know by the sound of my violin If I’m ever back this way again
Is anybody listening, can anybody hear The last American waltz? Is anybody listening, can anybody hear The last American waltz?