CHILD OF CLAY
(Ernest Maresca / Jim Stuberge)

Jimmie Rodgers - 1967
Johnny Darrell - 1968
The 1929 Depression - 1968
Jim Campbell - 1970

Also recorded by: Family Dogg; P.J. Proby & Marc Almond.



Into the darkness he was sent by parents who were ignorant 
Tied down to his mother's strings unable to be anything
Puzzled by the things he hears, his questions fall on their deaf ears
And the father thinkin' work comes first ain't got the time to quench a thirst
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no

Once he was a child, a beautiful child, a child of clay
Shaped and molded into what he is today
But who is to blame for this child of clay

And going out into the street at night, the answers he may meet 
With sick and twisted mind he shares the searching questions his heart bears
And from the dregs the answers find their way into his supple mind
In time the planted seeds will grow into a twisted vine below
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no

Oh, once he was a child, a beautiful child, a child of clay
Shaped and molded into what he is today
But who is to blame for this child of clay

And now his aimless days begin to drift into sordid sins
And soon his dislike turns to hate as the stab of life seals his fate
And so the night conceals his name and the day sleeps off his shame
Deprived of love and wrought by fear, a feeling that the end is near
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no,

Oh, once he was a child, a beautiful child, a child of clay
Shaped and molded into what he is today
But who is to blame for this child of clay

Oh, once he was a child, a beautiful child, a child of clay
Shaped and molded into what he is today
But who is to blame for this child of clay

Oh, once he was a child, a beautiful child, a child of clay
Shaped and molded into what he is today


(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - May 2018)