Highlands

[Verse 1]
Well, my heart's in the Highlands gentle and fair
Honeysuckle bloomin' in the Wildwood air
Bluebells blazin' where the Aberdeen waters flow
Well my heart's in the Highlands
I'm gonna go there when I feel good enough to go

[Verse 2]
Windows was shakin' all night in my dreams
Everything was exactly the way that it seems
Woke up this morning and I looked at the same old page
Same ol' rat race
Life in the same ol' cage

[Verse 3]
I don't want nothin' from anyone, ain't that much to take
Wouldn't know the difference between a real blonde and a fake
Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery
I wish someone would come
And push back the clock for me

[Verse 4]
Well my heart's in the Highlands wherever I roam
That's where I'll be when I get called home
The wind, it whispers to the buckeyed trees in rhyme
Well my heart's in the Highlands
I can only get there one step at a time

[Verse 5]
I'm listenin' to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone's always yellin' turn it down
Feel like I'm drifting
Drifting from scene to scene
I'm wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean?

[Verse 6]
Insanity is smashin' up against my soul
You could say I was on anything but a roll
If I had a conscience, well, I just might blow my top
What would I do with it anyway?
Maybe take it to the pawn shop

[Verse 7]
My heart's in the Highlands at the break of dawn
By the beautiful lake of the Black Swan
Big white clouds like chariots that swing down low
Well my heart's in the Highlands
Only place left to go

[Verse 8]
I'm in Boston town, in some restaurant
I got no idea what I want
Or maybe I do but I'm just really not sure
Waitress comes over
Nobody in the place but me and her

[Verse 9]
Well, it must be a holiday, there's nobody around
She studies me closely as I sit down
She got a pretty face and long white shiny legs
I said "Tell me what I want"
She say, "You probably want hard boiled eggs"

[Verse 10]
I say "That's right: bring me some"
She says "We ain't got any, you picked the wrong time to come"
Then she says, "I know you're an artist, draw a picture of me"
I said, "I would if I could, but
I don't do sketches from memory"

[Verse 11]
"Well," she says, "I'm right here in front of you, or haven't you looked?"
I say, "All right, I know, but I don't have my drawing book"
She gives me a napkin, she say, "You can do it on that"
I say, "Yes I could, but
I don't know where my pencil is at"

[Verse 12]
She pulls one out from behind her ear
She says, "All right now, go ahead, draw me, I'm standing right here"
I make a few lines and I show it for her to see
Well she takes the napkin and throws it back
And says, "That don't look a thing like me"

[Verse 13]
I said, "Oh, kind Miss, it most certainly does"
She says, "You must be jokin'," I say, "I wish I was"
Then she says, "You don't read women authors, do you?"
At least that's what I think I hear her say
"Well," I say, "how would you know? And what would it matter anyway?"

[Verse 14]
"Well," she says, "You just don't seem like you do"
I said, "You're way wrong"
She says, "Which ones have you read then?" I say, "I read Erica Jong!"
She goes away for a minute
And I slide up out of my chair
I step outside back to the busy street but nobody's going anywhere

[Verse 15]
Well, my heart's in the Highlands with the horses and hounds
Way up in the border country, far from the towns
With the twang of the arrow and a snap of the bow
My heart's in the Highlands
Can't see any other way to go

[Verse 16]
Every day is the same thing out the door
Feel further away than ever before
Some things in life, it gets too late to learn
Well, I'm lost somewhere
I must have made a few bad turns

[Verse 17]
I see people in the park forgetting their troubles and woes
They're drinking and dancing, wearing bright-colored clothes
All the young men with their young women looking so good
Well, I'd trade places with any of them
In a minute, if I could

[Verse 18]
I'm crossing the street to get away from a mangy dog
Talking to myself in a monologue
I think what I need might be a full-length leather coat
Somebody just asked me
If I registered to vote

[Verse 19]
The sun is beginning to shine on me
But it's not like the sun that used to be
The party's over and there's less and less to say
I got new eyes
Everything looks far away

[Verse 20]
Well, my heart's in the Highlands at the break of day
Over the hills and far away
There's a way to get there and I'll figure it out somehow
But I'm already there in my mind
And that's good enough for now