Ambulance Blues
Neil Young Lyrics

Back in the old folky days
In the days when folk music was popular,

The air was magic when we played
There was a special feeling in the air when we played music.

The riverboat was rockin' in the rain
There was a boat rocking during a storm.

Midnight was the time for the raid
Midnight was the perfect time to do something unexpected.

Oh, Isabela, proud Isabela
Oh, Isabela, a place with pride,

They tore you down and plowed you under
They destroyed Isabela and left nothing behind.

You're only real with your make-up on
The real Isabela only exists in a beautiful state.

How could I see you and stay too long?
How could I be around beautiful Isabela for too long without being destroyed by her demise?

All along the Navajo Trail
Throughout the Navajo Trail,

Burn-outs stub their toes on garbage pails
Drugged-out people hurt themselves with garbage cans.

Waitresses are cryin' in the rain
Waitresses are crying in the rain.

Will their boyfriends pass this way again?
Will the boyfriends of waitresses return?

Oh, Mother Goose, she's on the skids
Mother Goose is struggling.

But you ain't happy, neither are the kids
Neither Mother Goose nor the kids are happy.

She needs someone that she can scream at
Mother Goose needs someone to yell at.

And I'm such a heel for makin' her feel so bad
I feel terrible for making Mother Goose feel bad.

I guess I'll call it sickness gone
I'll label it as a sickness that has passed.

It's hard to say the meaning of this song
It's difficult to explain the meaning of this song.

An ambulance can only go so fast
An ambulance can only move so quickly.

It's easy to get buried in the past
It's easy to get stuck in the past.

When you try to make a good thing last
When you try to make something good continue for too long, it becomes bad.

I saw today in the entertainment section
I saw today in the entertainment section of the newspaper.

There's room at the top for private detection
There's opportunity for private detectives.

To mom and dad this just doesn't matter
To parents, this is not important.

But it's either that or pay off the kidnapper
However, the alternate option is paying off kidnappers.

So all you critics sit alone
All the critics sit by themselves.

You're no better than me for what you've shown
Critics have no superiority over me for their work.

With your stomach pump and your hook and ladder dreams
With your medical equipment and unrealistic aspirations.

We could get together for some scenes
We could collaborate together on something.

Well, I'm up in T.O., keepin' jive alive
I'm in T.O. keeping the smooth flow of music alive.

And out on the corner it's half past five
It's half past five on the street corner.

But the subways are empty
The subway trains are empty.

And so are the cafes
The cafes are also empty.

Except for the farmer's market
Except for the farmers' market.

And I still can hear him say
I can still hear someone saying.

You're all just pissin' in the wind
You're all wasting your time on futile endeavors.

You don't know it but you are
You don't understand it, but it's true.

And there ain't nothin' like a friend
There's nothing better than a friend.

Who can tell you, you're just pissin' in the wind
A true friend tells you that you're wasting your time on futile endeavors.

I never knew a man could tell so many lies
I never knew that someone could tell so many falsehoods.

He had a different story for every set of eyes
He had a different explanation for every person he spoke to.

How can he remember who he's talking to?
How can he remember which story he told to whom?

'Cause I know it ain't me, and I hope it isn't you
I know he's lying to me, and I hope he's not lying to you.