Country Joe & The Fish - Electric Music for the Mind and Body - 1967
One of my favorites back then, and still . . .
Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
She hides an attic concealed on a shelf Behind volumes of literature based on herself Runs across the pages like some tiny elf Knowing that it's hard to find The stuff way back in her mind Winds up spending all of her time Trying to memorize every line
Sweet Lorraine Oh, sweet Lorraine
Sweet lady of death wants me to die So she can come sit by my bedside and sigh Wiping away the tears from all my friends' eyes Then softly she will explain Just exactly who was to blame For causing me to go insane And finally blow out my brains
Sweet Lorraine Oh, sweet Lorraine
Well you know that it's a shame and a pity You were raised up in the city And you never learned nothing 'bout country ways Oh, 'bout country ways
The joy of life, she dresses in black With celestial secrets engraved in her back Her face keeps flashing that she's got the knack But you know when you look into her eyes That all she's learned she's had to memorize And the only way you'll ever get her high Is to let her do her thing and then watch you die
Sweet Lorraine Oh, sweet Lorraine
She's the one who gives us all those magical things And reads us stories out of the I Ching And then she passes out a whole new basket of rings That when you put on your hand Makes you one of the angel band And gives you the power to be a man But what it does for her you never quite understand
Sweet Lorraine Oh yeah, sweet Lorraine
Well you know that it's a shame and a pity You were raised up in the city And you never learned nothing 'bout country ways Oh, 'bout country ways
Yeah, 'bout country ways