Saturday Night Live Transcripts
Season 2: Episode 6
The Band performs “Life Is A Carnival”, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, and “Stage Fright”
…..The Band
Buck Henry: My special guests this evening have been on the road as a touring band for over sixteen years. This Thanksgiving, they will be doing their last live performance, and we are very honored to have them here tonight. Ladies and gentlemen – The Band.
The Band:
“You can walk on the water, drown in the sand
You can fly off a mountaintop, if anybody can
Run away, run away–it’s the restless age
Look away, look away–you can turn the page.
Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street
I got six on each arm, and two more ’round my feet.
Life is a carnival–believe it or not
Life is a carnival–two bits a shot.
Saw a man with the jinx, in the third degree
From trying to deal with people, people that you can’t see
Take away, take away, this house of mirrors
Give away, give away, all the souvenirs.
We’re all in the same boat, a-ready to float off the edge of the world
The flat old world
The street is a sideshow from the peddler to the corner girl.
Life is a carnival–it’s in the book
Life is a carnival–take another look.”
[ guitar/piano break, then rest before starting up: ]
“Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,
‘Til Stonewall’s cavalry came, and they tore up the tracks again.
In the winter of ’65, we were hungry, just barely alive.
By May tenth, Richmond fell, it’s a time I remember, oh so well.
The night they drove old Dixie down, when all the bells were ringing,
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin’, they went:
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na,
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na.
Back with my wife in Tennessee, When one day she called to me,
Said, “Virgil, quick, come and see, there goes Robert E. Lee!”
Now I don’t mind choppin’ wood,
And I don’t care if the money’s no good.
You take what you need and you leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the very best.
The night they drove old Dixie down, when all the bells were ringing,
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin’, they went:
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na,
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na.
And like my father before me, I will work the land,
And like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand.
He was just eighteen, proud and brave,
But a Yankee a-laid him in his grave,
I swear by the mud below my feet,
You can’t raise a Caine back up when he’s in defeat.
The night they drove old Dixie down, when all the bells were ringing,
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin’, they went:
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na,
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na.”
[ rest, as the audience cheers; just as it appears the set is over, they start up once more: ]
“Now deep in the heart of a lonely kid
Who suffered so much for what he did,
They gave this ploughboy his fortune and fame,
Since that day he ain’t been the same.
See the man with the stage fright
Just standin’ up there to give it all his might.
And he got caught in the spotlight,
But when we get to the end
He wants to start all over again.
I’ve got fire water right on my breath
And the doctor warned me I might catch a death.
Said, “You can make it in your disguise,
Just never show the fear that’s in your eyes.”
See the man with the stage fright,
Just standin’ up there to give it all his might.
He got caught in the spotlight,
But when we get to the end
He wants to start all over again.
Now if he says that he’s afraid,
Take him at his word.
And for the price that the poor boy has paid,
He gets to sing just like a bird, oh, ooh ooh ooh.
Your brow is sweatin’ and your mouth gets dry,
Fancy people go driftin’ by.
The moment of truth is right at hand,
Just one more nightmare you can stand.
See the man with the stage fright
Just standin’ up there to give it all his might.
And he got caught in the spotlight,
But when we get to the end
He wants to start all over again, hmm hmm.
You wanna try it once again, hmm hmm,
Please don’t make him stop, hmm hmm,
Let him take it from the top, hmm hmm,
Let him start all over again.”
[ the audience cheers ]
