Dick Earl’s Electric Witness

Lyrics

Well one day I went out drivin’
Way out past the city limit signs
I went out into the desert just to see what I could find
Now when I got out there to the end of the road
I got out and I started walking
And I walked for miles
I said I walked for miles
Now when I got out there
I came upon a spot
Kind of low in the ground
And there was a rock down in there
And there was water bubbling up from underneath
Now somebody had built a fence around that spot
To keep that water clean and pure
But you see that fence hadn’t stood up to the test of time
And something had gotten down in there
And it churned up all the mud
And it poisoned the water
I said that water was no good, you couldn’t drink it
I said that water was poisoned, you couldn’t drink it

Cause time fades your fences
Time fades your fences
Time fades your fences
But it just don’t take them away

Well, you see I had this friend, at least I thought I did
He was always goin round tryin to cut a deal
But the only person his deals were deals for was him
And I say that’s no good

Well, one day he comes to me and he says, “Hey, man”
He says, “I got myself in a little bit of trouble.
You see, I need a friend, a true friend, somebody who I can trust.
And the first person I thought of was you.
What do you say, can you help a brother out?”
And I said, “Well, now that all depends.
You see, I like to make an educated decision.
So why don’t you lay it out?”

Well, sure enough he got himself in a lot of trouble.
And I like to help my friends when I can, so we entered into an agreement.
Well, this deal ended up going the way all his all deals, it went south.

It was quite a while before I saw that guy again, and when I did,
He said, “Hey, man, I’m really sorry how that all went down.
You’re a friend of mine. I wouldn’t do you wrong.”
And I said, “You are a friend of mine, and so we’re gonna let it slide.”
He said, “I appreciate that. As a matter of fact, I appreciate it so much I’m gonna make it up.
You see, I got this other thing I been working on, sure thing, can’t go wrong.
I’m gonna cut you in, man, what you say?”
I said, “Lay it out.”

Well, I didn’t see how it could go wrong, so we entered into another agreement.
Oh, man! A southbound train again!

Well, it took a little bit longer this time before I ran into him again.
And when I did, he was apologetic, telling me what a good friend I was,
How he wouldn’t do me wrong
And then he started talkin about the next big thing
How he’s gonna make it up
And he starts to lay it out

Well, I said, “Man…”
I said, “Man…”
I said, “Man…”

Time fades offenses
Time fades offenses
Time fades offenses
But it just don’t take them away