Country Joe & the Fish

[ Here We Are Again Cover]Order

Here We Are Again

Side 1:
  1. Here I Go Again (3:24)
  2. Donovan's Reef (4:18)
  3. It's So Nice to Have Your Love (3:25)
  4. Baby, You're Driving Me Crazy (2:43)
  5. Crystal Blues (6:18)
Side 2:
  1. For No reason (3:55)
  2. I'll Survive (2:28)
  3. Maria (3:30)
  4. My Girl (2:16)
  5. Doctor of Electricity (3:58)

Here I Go Again

When dawn comes to touch my purple haze
And evening's drowsiness to carry me away
I know once again that there is nothing we can save,
So I'll pack up my things, I'll be on my way.

Yes, here I go again
Off down the road again
Thinking thoughts of days gone by.
Here I am again
Singing my songs again
Thinking and dreaming
Thoughts of you and I.

Swirls of giant colors swam madly through my head,
I looked around to find you, but I just found him instead.
It might have been a dream for all the things we said
But you promised me —
Darling you promised me —

Yes, and here I go again
Off down the road again
Thinking thoughts of things gone by.
Here I am again
Singing my songs again
Thinking and dreaming
Oh I feel like I could cry.

Father's gone to fight the war,
He left us here alone.
I shiver in the lonesome night
Beside the telephone
But time brings no word,
I guess he's not coming home,
It feels like the end,
It feels like the end, my friend.

Here we go again
Off down the road again
Thinking thoughts of things gone by.
Here I am again
Singing my songs again
Thinking and dreaming
Oh I feel like I could
Thinking and dreaming
Oh I feel like I could
Thinking and dreaming
Oh I feel like I could die.
Oh, yeah!

Donovan's Reef

Scorching the painted desert adrift off of Donovan's reef
Tossing and spinning your pills alone brings such sweet relief.
Open your mind and show me a sign to prove you're insane.
Open your arms and show me the scars reflecting your pain.

Lovely lady, forgive me now
If words seem cruel
If words seem cruel.
You've lost your soul
You've grown so cold
You've learned the rules,
Obey the rules of their game:
Life's just a game.

Pig boat sails across the seven seas
Servants at home are down on their knees
The master's praying and begging me, "Please
Look away."

Diamonds shining through an emerald sky
Watch the phantom as he flies by
Trying to laugh but he knows he must die.
Look away, look away, look away.

Satan dances of death and doom our time has finally come
Lower imps of sin sing an orgy of our flesh begun.
Excuse me, I can't seem to recall exactly what's happening here,
Your mask in the past always seemed to me to be so sincere.

She's stolen you away
Taken your heart
Once it was mine,
Ah once it was mine.
You look so cool
But I'm no fool
You'll pay for your crimes
By doing your time in their game,
Life's just a game
Life's just a game
You know that life is just a game
Life's just a game
Life's only a game...

It's So Nice to Have Your Love

Can't you feel her pain ?
She needs someone to touch at night alone,
She needs someone to comfort her then.
You caused her agony by taking away
The only thing she ever cared to love,
You tampered with her heart.
Don't believe that you are not the one
To blame for it all, oh,
Cover your hands
Turn your face to the wall,
Can't you remember ?
You can't remember then.

You think you've got it made.
You've got yourself a love
That's more than you ever hoped
That you could have
You can't remember when you walked the streets alone
And darkness plagued your every waking hour of the day.
It's so easy when everything is right
Grooving along with a song
Oh, can't you recall some terror in the night ?
Can't you remember ?
You can't remember then.

It's so nice to have love
It's so nice to have love
It's so nice to have love.

So young and beautiful
They bring a joy to me, a love of life
That I have never known before.
Sweet and innocent
They can't believe, they won't believe
The things that causes their love to die
And if you would like to walk hand in hand
If you'd like to see the sun
Oh, just believe no one will hurt you now.
Can't you remember ?
You can't remember then.

It's so nice to have your love
It's so nice to have your love
It's so nice to have your love.

Baby, You're Driving Me Crazy

Baby, you're driving me crazy
Make me so lazy
All I wanna do is stay at home.

I was looking at the hands on the wall
Not keeping track of the time
I thought I heard someone call
And I decided it was only the wine.

Then off from some place
Came a beautiful face
So fair, so young and so fine,
The moment I looked into those big brown eyes
I knew I had to make her mine.

Baby, you're driving me crazy
Make me so lazy
All I wanna do is stay at home.

Living in this world is not an easy thing
We walk down a heavy road
We've only got love and the joy it brings
To help us carry the load.

Baby, you're driving me crazy
Make me so lazy
All I wanna do is stay at home.

Living in this world is not an easy thing
We walk down a heavy road
We've only got love and the joy it brings
To help us carry the load.

Oh, living in this world is not an easy thing
We walk down a heavy road, yeah,
We've only got love and the joy it brings
To help us carry the load.

Oh, baby, baby you're driving me so crazy,
Baby, driving, driving me crazy,
Driving me crazy, driving me crazy.
Driving me crazy, driving...

Crystal Blues

She told me that she loved me,
She said she'd make my house a home.
She told me that she loved me,
Oh she said she'd make my house a happy home,
Ah, but living with that woman now
Yeah, it's just like living all a-
Oh, living all alone,
Yeah, living all alone.

You know I love you baby,
Oh, you know that I tried to be your man oh,
Man yeah, I tried so hard to be your man.
You know I love you baby,
You know that I tried so hard to be your man,
But your heart has turned to stone, girl.
There's nothing but the devil crawling through your veins.
Ah, play the blues, come on.

Ah, crystal's got my woman,
Ah, dope is driving her insane, yeah
Dope is driving her insane, yeah
Dope is driving her insane.
Crystal's got my woman,
Ah, dope is driving her insane, yeah.
She used to be so pretty,
Now she can't remember her own name,
Now she can't remember her own name.

For No Reason

He wants to write words down
On pieces of paper
Recording them now
And recalling them later.
It remains a mystery
The pages of history
Outlasted the passing
Of things that were dear to me.

Those wonderful children
With bright shining faces
They waltzed in the halls
And they marched in their places
The darlings of dancing,
And spinning, and reeling.
Look into their eyes
To see what they're feeling.

It's almost too much for him
Bearing the cross he's carrying.
It's almost too much for him
Wearing the face he's wearing.
Why don't you change your style ?
Why don't you change your style ?
Why don't you change your style ?

He wants to find men
Who can love for no reason,
Who open their hearts
To life of all seasons
But they've all gone, it seems
Off in their limousines—
I want to live where men
Can believe their dreams.

It's almost too much for him
Bearing this cross I'm carrying.
It's almost too much for him
Wearing this face I'm wearing.
Why don't you change your style ?
Think I'll change my style.
Why don't you change your style ?
Think I'll change my style.
Why don't you change your style ?
Change
Why don't you change your style ?
Change...

I'll Survive

It really wasn't you or I who made the final move,
We both could feel it coming and knew it would be soon
Now that it's over I finally realize
That some of my fears were not fully justified
And I find I'm still living much to my surprise,
Y'know, it looks like I just might survive.

I feel the pressure building to block you from my mind
To try and make my thoughts of you pass away with time
But to try and fake a broken heart isn't even worth a try
For we know each other well enough that there's little we can hide
And I find I'm still living much to my surprise
It'll be lonesome without you but I'll survive.

I look back on our romance and there's something in it all
That makes my life without you seem to be so very small.
I know we never played the game with true love as a prize
But we found ourselves a kind of love we had never really tried.
That I let you get so close to me comes as no surprise,
It'll be lonesome without you, lonesome without you,
Lonesome without you but I'll survive, oh yeah.

Maria

Maria, I'm growing so tired of fighting this war,
Maria, I feel like I just can't go on anymore.
The sounds we make as they're dying
Hearing their screams and their crying
The children, their eyes are weeping
We filled them with pain.

You know the reason I joined up to fight in this war.
You know the reason I refuse to fight anymore.

Maria, please help me, I feel like I'm going insane.
Maria, at night in my dreams I keep calling your name.
After the battle is over
And I am just another soldier
Maria, I'm longing to hold you again in my arms.

You know the reason I joined up to fight in this war.
You know the reason I refuse to fight anymore.

My Girl

My girl goes to sleep at night
At the end of a long, lonely day.
I know things will turn out all right
When I come home to stay.

True love is so very strong
Time cannot fade it away
I will love you in a song
When I'm far, so far away.

Many miles may separate us
Stormy clouds bring rain,
But loneliness will be forgotten
When we meet again.

My girl goes to sleep at night
At the end of a long, lonely day.
I know love will turn out all right
When I come home to stay.

Doctor of Electricity

Things just don't seem the same
I'm not saying who's to blame
You might say my loss is your gain
It's all in vain.

I've been walking all across creation
All across the nation
Just to get back home
Just to get back home
To get a loan.
Just to get a loan

Mighty armies of gasoline attendants
Come to wipe my windows clean.
I can hear them laughing,
Their jokes are a riot.
Something is changing
And it's breaking the machine,
Oh, breaking the machine,
Oh, breaking the machine.

Oh, see it on my television,
Hear it on my radio
Hold it in the palm of my hand.
In every city voices are talking
In language you can't understand,
Voices are talking in language you can't understand,
I can't understand the voices, voices, yeah.

Come and join us
Come and join us
Come and join us

Come and join us, come and join us
Come and join us, come and join us
Come and join us, come and join us
Come and join us, come and join us

In the streets and universities
Binding up and setting free
The power of a million suns
To change the way it is to be

Is to be
Is to be
Is to be!

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"Here I Go Again", "Donovan's Reef", and "For No Reason" Recorded at Vanguard Recording Studios, 71 West 23rd Street, New York City, December 1968
Producer: Sam Charters
Engineer: Ed Friedner

Joe McDonald: vocals, guitar
Barry Melton: vocals, electric guitar
David Cohen: piano, organ
Mark Ryan: bass
Gary "Chicken" Hirsh: drums, percussion


"It's So Nice to Have Your Love", "Crystal Blues", "Baby, You're Driving Me Crazy", "My Girl" and "Doctor of Electricity" Recorded at Pacific High Studios, Brady Street, San Francisco, January 1969
Producer: Sam Charters
Engineer: Ed Friedner

Joe McDonald: vocals, guitar
Barry Melton: vocals, electric guitar
David Cohen: keyboards
Jack Casady: bass
Gary "Chicken" Hirsh: drums, percussion


"I'll Survive", and "Maria" Recorded at Vanguard Recording Studios, 71 West 23rd Street, New York City, March 1969
Producer: Sam Charters
Engineer: Ed Friedner

Joe McDonald: vocals, guitar
Barry Melton: slide electric guitar
Mark Kapner: piano
Peter Albin: bass
Gary "Chicken" Hirsh: drums, percussion


Arrangements for "It's So Nice to Have Your Love", "Baby, You're Driving Me Crazy", "Crystal Blues" , "Maria" and "My Girl" by Ed Bland.
Arrangements for "Here I Go Again", "For No Reason" and "Doctor of Electricity" by Ed Bogas.
Arrangements for "I'll Survive" by Ed Bogas and Sam Charters.
Horns and strings arranged and conducted by Ed Bland.
Re-mixed at Vanguard Recording Studios, 71 West 23rd Street, New York City, by Ed Friedner

Cover art by Tom Weller
Original lyrics included in original LP and reissue CD
Original LP release: Vanguard VSD.79299  [July, 1969]
Original CD release: Vanguard VSD 79299-2 [July 22, 1994]

All songs by Joe McDonald copyright © 1969 by McDonald's Music, BMI, renewed 1994
All songs by Barry Melton  copyright © 1969 by Sea Food Music, BMI, renewed 1994

This page made possible through the kind assistance of Serge Mironneau.

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