PAUL 
(Shel Silverstein)

Bobby Bare - 1973




You know, American folk lore is filled with legendary characters like, ah, Billy The Kid, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill ....... and probably the greatest one of all has got to be Paul Bunyan, 'cause he was the meanest and the biggest and dirtiest, tobacco chewin'est, and the funkiest and the best woodchopper of all of 'em......... 

Well, he rode through the woods on a big blue ox
He had fists as hard as choppin' blocks
Five hundred pounds and nine feet tall
That's Paul

Talk about workin'g when he swings his axe
You could hear it ring for a mile and half
He'd yell timber and down she'd fall
For Paul

Talk about drinkin', that man's so mean
That he'd never drink nothin' but kerosene
A five gallon can is a little bit small
For Paul

Talk about women, that man's so lusty
Needs a woman ever hour just to keep from gettin' rusty
Young ones run and the old ones crawl
To Paul

Talk about tough, well he once had a fight
With a thunderstorm on a cold dark night
I ain't sayin' who won, but it don't storm at all
Round here, thanks to Paul

He was ninety years old when he said with a sigh
Said I think I'm gonna lay right down and die
'Cause sunshine and sorrow I seen it all
Says Paul

Says there ain't no man alive can kill me
Ain't no woman left can thrill me
And I think a-Heaven just might be a ball
Says Paul

So he died and we cried

It took eighteen men just to bust the ground
Took three or four more just to lower him down
And we covered him up and we figured that was all
For Paul

But late one night the trees started shakin'
And the dogs started barkin' and the earth started quakin'
And out of the ground with a hi y'all
Came Paul

Well he shook the dirt from off his clothes
He scratched his ass and wiped his nose
You know bein' dead wadn't no fun at all
Says Paul

He said now up in Heaven they got harps on their knees
They got clouds and wings, but they got no trees
I don't think that's much of a heaven at all
Says Paul

So he jumps on his ox with a fare thee well
He said I'll find out if they got trees in Hell
And he rode away and that was all
We ever seen of Paul

But the next time you hear a timber yell
That a-sounds like it's comin' from the pits o' hell
Then a boomin' laugh and a ghostly wail
Like somebody choppin' on the Devil's tail
Then a shout and a call, a crash and a fall
That ain't no mortal man at all
That's just Paul



(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - January 2011)