Tim Buckley Memories: Lyrics to "The Earth is Broken" from 'Dreamletter: Live in London 1968'








The Earth is Broken


by Tim Buckley

From Dreamletter: Live in London 1968






This song was written about Tim's close friend and collaborator, Larry Beckett, who told me that he never even knew this song existed until he listened to it on the CD, which was astonishing to him. I'd welcome help with these lyrics.



Lyrics to The Earth is Broken



Oh now my brother
has been taken away,
Gone are the old times
when we used to say,
Oh woman was younger,
she knew what to do,
ah but I look around me,
and now that's not so...


Ah lost on that open road,
no peace do I find,
Maybe the wind'll blow a melody,
and ease my mind
But soon love is broken,
they'll take you away....


Ah the wars they've been growin'
there's no relief,
And the old men who rule them
Ah they're just like thieves
They rolb from the sunshine
all the air ain't so clean
Our rivers are dirty
where once we could see






The smile of your lady friend looking down,
Look at that river,
hey did you ever shiver?
Well the earth is broken
there's no one to save it {???}


I remember quite freely only yesterday
ah the letter I read from you read this away
Take care lonesome Timmy
Ah don't you start....
thinking you're the only one here that's gone.


Out on your lonesome road
ain't {lendin' a hand to your friend????}
Yes, he's just as lonely and
the wind keeps you cold....


Remember the rivers that
once did flow clear
Ah sometimes I wonder how
this old world keeps spinnin' round.






Ah the old folks have gone west, lord,
preparin' to die
all except for a few of us hangers on
livin' each day with trivial hearts
We just stop once in a while,
cry over the news..


In some foreign far city
your brother shot down...
Because there was a reason,
the gun had a hand
And the old man killed you,
squeezed on it so


I'm just raging brother,
waitin' for the end
Soon in my country
there won't be a friend.
Each one is cryin'
so hard to defend
that one, one last heartbeat
before he's tucked away


Lost in the mechanized,
efficient world {logical ?} skies
Ah, but what song was written,
ah without a tear in your eye.
Are we the last ones,
the last ones to try?







Tim Buckley Memories

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