Runaway

She left him, it rains
He wah-wah-wah-wah-wonders
Why she ran away.

Del Shannon's classic rock-and-roll song, done Wilburys-style. First released on a single, it was later included on the box set compilation of their work in 2007.

As I walk along, I wonder
A-what went wrong with our love
A love that was so strong

And as I still walk on, I think of
The things we've done together
While our hearts were young

I'm a-walkin' in the rain
Tears are fallin' and I feel the pain
Wishin' you were here by me
To end this misery

I wonder
I wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder
Why
Why, why, why, why, why
She ran away

And I wonder
Where she will stay
My little runaway
A-run, run, run, run, runaway

I'm a-walkin' in the rain
Tears are fallin' and I feel the pain
Wishin' you were here by me
To end this misery

And I wonder
I wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder
Why
Why, why, why, why, why
She ran away

And I wonder
Where she will stay
My little runaway
A-run, run, run, run, runaway
A-run, run, run, run, runaway
A-run, run, run, run, runaway

Nobody's Child

Crying orphan boy
Says nobody wants him, and
He’s one of many.

A Traveling Wilbury's song, this was first released on the compilation "Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal," a benefit album for Romanian orphans, many of them HIV-positive. The song later was included on a 2007 box set collecting the two Traveling Wilburys albums and some singles miscellany. The song was written by Cy Coben and Mel Foree, and performed by Hank Snow in 1949.

As I was slowly passing, an orphan’s home today
I stopped for just a little while to watch the children play
A lone boy standin', and when I asked him why
He turned with eyes that could not see, and he began to cry

I'm nobody's child, I'm nobody's child
Just like a flower I'm growin' wild
No mama's arms to hold me no daddy's smile
Nobody wants me, I'm nobody's child

In every town and village
There are places just like this
With rows and rows of children
And babies in their cribs

They've long since stopped their cryin'
As no-one ever hears
And no-one there to notice them or take away their fears

Nobody's child, they're nobody's child
Just like a flower they're growin wild
No mama's arms to hold them, no daddy's smile
Nobody wants them they're nobody's child

Nobody's child, they're nobody's child
Just like a flower they're growin wild
No mama's arms to hold them, no daddy's smile
Nobody wants them they're nobody's child
Nobody wants them they're nobody's child

Like a Ship

I wish she'd leave, as
Her love is a ship, and I'm
Gonna be keel-hauled.

A Traveling Wilburys single. The lyrics speak for themselves. The song was released as a bonus track on the 2007 reissue of the first Traveling Wilburys album. The album first came out in 1988.

Like a ship on the sea, her love rose over me
Like a ship on the sea, her love rose over me
Go 'way, go 'way, let me be

Like a weepin' willow tree, her love hangs over me
Like a weepin' willow tree, her love hangs over me
Go 'way, go 'way, let me be.

Standin' on the white cliffs of Dover
Lookin' out into space
Another channel to cross over
Another dream to chase

The night is dark and dreary
The wind is howling down
Your heart is hanging heavy
When your sweet love ain't around

Like a leaf on a tree, her love is shakin' me
Like a leaf on a tree, her love is shakin' me
Go 'way, go 'way, let me be
(Hauntin' me like a ship on the sea)
Like a leaf, like a ship on the sea
(Hauntin' me like a ship on the sea)

Huck's Tune

A queen in Bob's deck
Might make a good hand, but he
Folds early and leaves.

I don't care much for movies and songs about baseball, horse racing, boxing, billiards and cards. I know that there are exceptions, but these are worlds outside my area of interest, at least in entertainment. I also don't care much about gambling. "Huck's Tune" is a song that rests, in the end, on a deck of cards, and was used in a movie about poker, "Lucky You," with Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall.

My aversion to all these things got in the way of my enjoyment of "Huck's Tune," and if the haiku comes off as uninvolved, that's probably not an accident. The song, at least to me, gets lost in the midst of gentle country sway that fills up most of volume 8 of the Bootleg series.

Anyway, here are my thoughts:

Rolling hills of symbolism, as identified verse by verse:

- Desert of stone. Wandering. Dreaming of future wife. Sword in hand. Life IS death. Plate and cup are up. Kiss your lips, honey drips, but "I'm gonna have to put you down for a while). (These are almost certainly tarot symbols.)
- I see you on the street, looking good. All sizes of people come to the ball. I do too, regularly. Something to see behind the tree. Big river. Been with you twice, but you can't be nice. So... 
- Nurse/money/purse. Ladies and men. You bet all your money on cards while I'm getting a tan in the sand. You knock me dead. But...
- I'm not crying over the past and what I lost. I like nature. You're fine like wine, and I'm serious, but...
- No faith. I'm blue. Gonna have to put you down again...