Idiot Wind (Live at Hughes Stadium, Ft. Collins, CO - May 1976)

[Verse 1]
Someone's got it in for me
They're planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they'd cut it out quick
But when they will I can only guess
They say I shot a man named Gray
And took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks
And when she died, it came to me
I can't help it if I'm a-lucky

[Verse 2]
People see me all the time
I guess they just can't remember how to act
Their minds are filled with false ideas
Images and distorted fact
And even you, yesterday
You had to ask me where it was at
I couldn't believe after all these years
You didn't know me any better than that
Sweet lady

[Chorus]
Idiot wind
Blowing every time you move your mouth
Blowing on down the backroads, heading south
Idiot wind
Blowing every time you move your teeth
You're an idiot, babe
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe

[Verse 3]
I ran into the fortune-teller
She said beware 'cause of lightning might strike
I haven't known about peace and quiet now for so long
I don't even remember what it's like
There's a lone soldier on the cross
Smoke pouring out of a boxcar door
He didn't know it, he never thought it could be done
But in the final shot, he'd won the war after losing every battle

[Verse 4]
I woke up on the roadside
Daydreaming 'bout the way things-a really are
Visions of your smoking tongue
Shoot through my head and are making me see stars
You hurt the ones that I love best
Then cover up the truth with lies
One day you'll be in the grave
Flies buzzing around your eyes
Blood on your saddle

[Chorus]
Idiot wind
Blowing through the flowers on your tomb
Blowing through the curtains in your room
Idiot wind
Blowing every time you move your mouth—, teeth
You're an idiot, babe
It's a wonder that you still can even breathe

[Verse 5]
It was gravity which pulled us down, and
Destiny which pulled us apart
You tamed the lion in my cage
But it just wasn't enough to change my heart
Now everything's a little upside down
As a matter of fact, the wheels have stopped
What's good is bad, what's bad is good
You'll find out when you reach the top
You're on the bottom

[Verse 6]
I noticed at the ceremony that your corrupt ways
Had finally made you blind
I can't recall your face anymore
Your mouth has changed and your eyes don't look into mine
The priest wore black on the seventh day
Sat stone-faced while the building burned
I waited for you on the running boards
Near the cypress tree, while the springtime turned
Slowly into autumn

[Chorus]
Idiot wind
Blowing like a circle around my skull
From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol
Idiot wind
Blowing every time you move your teeth
You're an idiot, babe
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe

[Verse 7]
I can't feel you anymore
I can't even touch the clothes ya wear
Every time I come into your door
You leave me standing in the middle of the air
Down the highway, down the tracks
Down the road to ecstasy
I followed you beneath the stars
Hounded by your memory
And all your raging glory

[Verse 8]
I been double-crossed now
For the very last time and I think I finally see
I'll kiss goodbye the howling beast
On the borderline which separated you from me
You'll never know the hurt I suffered
Nor the pain I rise above
And I'll never know the same about you
Your holiness or your kind of love
And it makes me feel so sorry

[Chorus]
Idiot wind
Blowing through the buttons of our coats
Blowing through the letters that we wrote
Idiot wind
Blowing through the dust upon our shelves
We're idiots, babe
It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves