There was a man I used to know,
I used to see him on the street
He was the kind of a guy
who never looked surprised
anytime you happened to meet
He just turned like he expected you,
and he accepted you with grace
To me he was like a brother,
but to others he was like a man from outer space
He stood alone at the crossroads
where the traffic came and went
He was either just gettin’ out of jail
or on his way back in
Drinkin’ whiskey from a paper bag,
he’d greet the people there
Some were amazed as they went on their way,
But to most it was like he wasn’t even there
He was a lonely heart, a fallen angel in a world of stone
Without a thing to call his own
He was a falling star, and he tried to fight the battle all alone
He was a long, long way from home
In the rat race of the rush hour
he stood amongst the stream
Of working people running
like an old ship lost at sea
And he’d stop me and he’d talk to me
about the angels that he’d seen
On the shoulders of the businessmen
and in the wheels of the machine
The cops would come and hassle him
for standing there so long
But he’d just smile and close his eyes
like was listening to a song
The merchants they would come with brooms
to chase the man away
He’d run in fear and disappear
but they knew he’d be back again the very next day
He was a lonely heart, a fallen angel in a world of stone
Without a thing to call his own
He was a falling star, and he tried to fight the battle all alone
He was a long, long way from home
I’d ask him questions of his life
but none of them he heard
He’d just reach into his pockets
and he’d start to feed the birds
Except for one time when I asked him
why he lived this way
He just pointed to the rags he wore and said
“One day this all shall pass away”
In the summer’s rain and the winter’s snow
he stood alone there listening
To the bells which rang from the tower
with clock with both hands missing
Little children they would come
and throw tomatoes in his face
And scream with glee, and so would he
With a look in his eyes like he was in some other place
He was a lonely heart, a fallen angel in a world of stone
Without a thing to call his own
He was a falling star, and he tried to fight the battle all alone
He was a long, long way from home Me, I had a steady job in a shoelace factory
Each year I took a vacation, went up north where the air was clean
Till one time I was comin’ back,
I noticed that the streets had changed
I looked around, but he was gone,
and the spot where he once stood had been re-paved
I later heard a truck had come and taken him away
To cure him of the illness that made him act so strange
They said that he was crazy, they said he was an outlaw
But to me he was the closest thing to bein’ true I think I ever saw
He was a lonely heart, a fallen angel in a world of stone
Without a thing to call his own
He was a falling star and he tried to fight the battle all alone
He was a long, long way from home
The haunting new record from Canadian folk artist Avi C. Engel bridges old and new traditions with a minimalist approach. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 24, 2024
Sanguine but uplifting, the Toronto singer-songwriter's "transfigured" folk songs ponder existential themes with grace and wonder. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 21, 2023
This collection of '90s work from folkie Patrick Regan and friends will appeal to fans of Fairport Convention and Pentangle. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 17, 2023
Montreal singer-songwriter Myriam Gendron's sophomore album, a mix of standards and originals, keeps living folk traditions vital. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 5, 2021
The British-Somali poet draws upon everything from leftfield folk to minimalist spoken-word, bound together by simple-yet-cutting wordplay. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 28, 2021
