Back in the old folky days
The air was magic when we played
The riverboat was rockin' in the rain
Midnight was the time for the raid

Oh, Isabela, proud Isabela
They tore you down and plowed you under
You're only real with your make-up on
How could I see you and stay too long?

All along the Navajo Trail
Burn-outs stub their toes on garbage pails
Waitresses are cryin' in the rain
Will their boyfriends pass this way again?

Oh, Mother Goose, she's on the skids
Shoe ain't happy, neither are the kids
She needs someone that she can scream at
And I'm such a heel for makin' her feel so bad

I guess I'll call it sickness gone
It's hard to say the meaning of this song
An ambulance can only go so fast
It's easy to get buried in the past
When you try to make a good thing last

I saw today in the entertainment section
There's room at the top for private detection
To mom and dad this just doesn't matter
But it's either that or pay off the kidnapper

So all you critics sit alone
You're no better than me for what you've shown
With your stomach pump and your hook and ladder dreams
We could get together for some scenes

Well, I'm up in T.O., keepin' jive alive
And out on the corner it's half past five
But the subways are empty
And so are the cafes

Except for the farmer's market
And I still can hear him say
You're all just pissin' in the wind
You don't know it but you are

And there ain't nothin' like a friend
Who can tell you, you're just pissin' in the wind

I never knew a man could tell so many lies
He had a different story for every set of eyes
How can he remember who he's talking to?
'Cause I know it ain't me, and I hope it isn't you


Lyrics submitted by hourafterdark

Ambulance Blues Lyrics as written by Neil Young

Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

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Ambulance Blues song meanings
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    General Comment

    RE "You're all just pissin in the wind.' That particular chorus and the harmonica that follows it seems to exist out of time - it is a timeless moment in music, I believe, and there's not many of those in history. I think this is because there are several things going on at the same time. The words, while very negative and perhaps bitter, are also very funny, but when the harmonica kicks in, the meaning turns terribly sad, a kind of resignation. Everyone has their own take, but to me it's a kind of lament, a soothing kind of grief. I picture someone by turns laughing and crying at their own time passing, and the time of their generation.

    PaulSouthon November 25, 2015   Link

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