Beggars Banquet

The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet Lyrics
1.Prodigal Son

Well a poor boy took his father's bread and started down the
road
Started down the road
Took all he had and started down the road
Going out in this world, where God only knows
And that'll be the way to get along

Well poor boy spent all he had, famine come in the land
Famine come in the land
Spent all he had and famine come in the land
Said, 'I believe I'll go and hire me to some man'
And that'll be the way I'll get along

Well, man said, 'I'll give you a job for to feed my swine
For to feed my swine
I'll give you a job for to feed my swine'
Boy stood there and hung his head and cried
'Cause that is no way to get along

Said, 'I believe I'll ride, believe I'll go back home
Believe I'll go back home
Believe I'll ride, believe I'll go back home
Or down the road as far as I can go'
And that'll be the way to get along

Well, father said, 'See my son coming after me
Coming home to me'
Father ran and fell down on his knees
Said, 'Sing and praise, Lord have mercy on me'
Mercy

Oh poor boy stood there, hung his head and cried
Hung his head and cried
Poor boy stood and hung his head and cried
Said, 'Father will you look on me as a child?'
Yeah

Well father said, 'Eldest son, kill the fatted calf,
Call the family round
Kill that calf and call the family round
My son was lost but now he is found
'Cause that's the way for us to get along'
Hey


2.Sympathy For The Devil

Lyricist:Mick Jagger, Keith Richards

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and fate

I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moments of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank
Held a General's rank
When the Blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
What's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah

I watched the glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the Gods they made

I shouted out
'Who killed the Kennedys?'
Well after all
It was you and me

Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
But what's confusing you
Is just the nature of my game, ooh yeah

Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails just call me Lucifer
I'm in need of some restraint

So if you meet me, have some courtesy
Have some sympathy and some taste
Use all your well learned politics
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, mmm yeah

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, mmm yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, get down
Woo hoo, ah yeah, get on down, oh yeah

Tell me, baby, what's my name?
Tell me, honey, baby guess my name
Tell me, baby, what's my name?
I'll ya one time you're to blame

What's my name?
Tell me, baby, what's my name?
Tell me, sweetie, what's my name?


3.Street Fighting Man

Lyricist:Michael Phillip Jagger, Keith Richards

Everywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy
'Cause summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the
street, boy

Well what can a poor boy do except to sing for a Rock 'n' Roll
band
'Cause in sleepy London town there's just no place for
A street fighting man, yeah

I say hey, and the time is right for a palace revolution
But where I live the game to play is compromise solution

Well, what can a poor boy do except to sing for a Rock 'n' Roll
band
'Cause in sleepy London town there's just no place for
A street fighting man, no

I say hey, and my name is called Disturbance
I'll shout and scream, I'll kill the king, I'll rail at all his
servants

Well what can a poor boy do except to sing for a Rock 'n' Roll
band
'Cause in sleepy London town there's just no place for
A street fighting man, I know

I know, hey baby
I know, I know


4.Factory Girl

Lyricist:M Jagger, K Richards

Waitin' for a girl she's got curlers in her hair
Waitin' for a girl we have no money anywhere
She gets buses everywhere
Waitin' for a factory girl

Waitin' for a girl and her knees are much too fat
Waitin' for a girl she has scarves instead of hats
Her zipper's burst out down the back
Waitin' for a factory girl

Waitin' for a girl and she gets me into fights
Waitin' for a girl we get drunk on Friday night
She's a sight for sore eyes
Waitin' for a factory girl

Waitin' for a girl and my feet are gettin' wet
She ain't pull out yet
Waitin' for a factory girl


5.Dear Doctor

Lyricist:M Jagger, K Richards

Oh help me, please doctor, I'm damaged
There's a pain where there once was a heart
It's sleepin, it's a beatin'
Can't ya please tear it out, and preserve it
Right there in that jar?

Oh help me, please mama, I'm sick'ning
It's today that's the day of the plunge
Oh, the gal I'm to marry is a bow-legged sow
I've been soakin' up drink like a sponge

'Don't ya worry, get dressed', cried my mother
As she plied me with bourbon so sour
Pull your socks up, put your suit on
Comb your long hair down
For you will be wed in the hour

So help me, please doctor, I'm damaged
There's a pain where there once was a heart
I'm sleepin, it's a beatin'
Can't ya please take it out, and preserve it
Right there in that jar? Yep

Oh help me, please doctor, I'm damaged
There's a pain where there once was a heart
It's sleepin, it's a beatin'
Can't ya please tear it out, and preserve it
Right there in that jar?

I was tremblin' as I put on my jacket
It had creases as sharp as a knife
I put the ring in my pocket but there was a note
And my heart it jumped into my mouth

It read, 'Darlin', I'm sorry to hurt you
But I've no courage to speak to your face
But I'm down in Virginia with your cousin Lou
There be no wedding today'

So help me, please doctor, I'm damaged
You can put back my heart in its hole
Oh mama, I'm cryin' tears of relief
And my pulse is now under control


6.Parachute Woman

Lyricist:Mick Jagger, Keith Richards

Parachute woman, land on me tonight
Parachute woman, land on me tonight
Yeah, I'll break big in New Orleans
And I'll overspill in Caroline

Parachute woman, join me for a ride
Parachute woman, join me for a ride
Well, I'll make my blow in Dallas
And get hot again in half the time

Parachute woman, will you blow me out?
Parachute woman, will you blow me out?
Well, my heavy throbbers itchin'
Just to lay a solid rhythm down


7.Jigsaw Puzzle

Lyricist:Mick Jagger, Keith Richards

There's a tramp sittin' on my doorstep
Tryin' to waste his time
With his methylated sandwich
He's a walking clothesline

And here comes the Bishop's daughter
On the other side
And she looks a trifle jealous
She's been an outcast all her life

Me, I'm waiting so patiently
Lying on the floor
I'm just trying to do my jigsaw puzzle
Before it rains anymore

Oh, the gangster looks so fright'ning
With his luger in his hand
But when he gets home to his children
He's a family man

But when it comes to the nitty-gritty
He can shove in his knife
Yes, he really looks quite religious
He's been an outlaw all his life

Me, I'm waiting so patiently
Lying on the floor
I'm just trying to do this jigsaw puzzle
Before it rains anymore

Me, I'm waiting so patiently
Lying on the floor
I'm just trying to do this jigsaw puzzle
Before it rains anymore

Oh, the singer, he looks angry
At being thrown to the lions
And the bass player, he looks nervous
About the girls outside

And the drummer, he's so shattered
Trying to keep up time
And the guitar players look damaged
They've been outcasts all their lives

Me, I'm waiting so patiently
Lying on the floor
I'm just trying to do this jigsaw puzzle
Before it rains anymore

Oh, there's twenty-thousand grandmas
Wave their hankies in the air
All burning up their pensions
And shouting, 'It's not fair'

There's a regiment of soldiers
Standing looking on
And the queen is bravely shouting
'What the hell is going on?'

With a blood-curdling, tally-ho
She charged into the ranks
And blessed all those grandmas who
With their dying breaths screamed, 'Thanks'

Me, I'm just waiting so patiently
With my woman on the floor
We're just trying to do this jigsaw puzzle
Before it rains anymore


8.Stray Cat Blues

Lyricist:M Jagger, K Richard

I hear the click-clack of your feet on the stairs
I know you're no scare-eyed honey
There'll be a feast if you just come upstairs
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime

I can see that you're fifteen years old
No I don't want your I.D.
I can see that you're so far from home
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime

Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
Oh yeah, don'tcha scratch like that
Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
Bet your mama don't know you scream like that
I bet your mother don't know you can spit like that

You look so weird and you're so far from home
But you don't really miss your mother
You don't look so scared, I'm no mad-brained bear
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime, oh yeah

I bet your mama don't know that you scratch like that
I bet she don't know you can bite like that

You say, you got a friend, that she's wilder than you
Why don't you bring her upstairs
If she's so wild then she can join in too
It's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime

Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
Oh yeah, don'tcha scratch like that
Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
I bet you mama don't know you can bite like that
I'll bet she never saw you scratch my back


9.Salt Of The Earth

Lyricist:Mick Jagger, Keith Richards

Let's drink to the hard working people
Let's think of the lowly of birth
Raise your glass to the good and the evil
Let's drink to the salt of the earth

Say a prayer for the common foot soldier
Spare a thought for his back breaking work
Spare a thought for his wife and his children
Who burn the fires and who still till the earth

When I look into this faceless crowd
A swirling mass of gray, blue, black and white
They don't look real to me
In fact, we all look so strange

Raise your glass to the hard working people
Let's drink to the uncounted heads
Let's think of the wavering millions
Who need leading but get gamblers instead

Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter
His empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows
And a parades of gray suited grafters
A choice of cancer or polio

And when I look into this faceless crowd
A swirling mass of gray and black and white
Do we all look real to you
Or do we look too strange?

Let's drink to the hard working people
Let's think of the lowly of birth
Spare a thought for the rag taggy people
Let's drink to the salt of the earth

Let's drink to the hard working people
Let's drink to the salt of the earth
Let's think of the two thousand million
Let's think of the humble of birth

Let's raise our drink to the salt of the earth
Let's raise our drink to the salt of the earth
Let's raise our drink to the salt of the earth
...


10.No Expectations

Lyricist:Mick Jagger, Keith Richard

Take me to the station
And put me on a train
I've got no expectations
To pass through here again

Once I was a rich man
And now I am so poor
But never in my sweet short life
Have I felt like this before

Your heart is like a diamond
You throw your pearls at swine
And as I watch you leaving me
You pack my peace of mind

Our love was like the water
That splashes on a stone
Our love is like our music
It's here and then it's gone

So take me to the airport
And put me on a plane
I've got no expectations
To pass through here again