Utah Phillips - Shadow Maker lyrics

I'm a reader of books, a teller of stories A poet in danger of drowning in words And sometimes a singer who needs to remember Some songs are better off left to the birds The shadow maker still picks at the paper And hands me a shadow that looks just like me He's better than some with an eye and a thumb For he knows how to touch and he knows how to see The young artist waits for his friends at the doorway And feeds on the praise that belongs to the proud His muses all dressed in their gallery best Will bend down to greet the applause of the crowd The shadow maker still picks at the paper A bucking horse cowboy as plain as can be He's better than most with a lie or a boast For he knows how to touch and he knows how to see It's one of those nights in the heat of the night When the truth is a razer electric and shrill The manicans sing and the registers ring And the dead tell us all how the living can k** The shadow maker still picks at the paper I feel like a door that's been handed the key He's better than some with a knife or a gun For he knows how to touch and he knows how to see The shadow maker still picks at the paper And hands me a shadow that looks just like me He's better than some with an eye and a thumb For he knows how to touch and he knows how to see