Stars (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1976)

Stars, they come and go

They come fast, they come slow

They go like the last light of the sun, all in a blaze

All you see is glory

But it gets lonely there when there's no one there to share

You can shake it away

If you'll hear a story

People lust for fame like athletes in a game

They break their collarbones and come up swinging

Some of them are crowned, some of them are downed

Some are lost and never found

But most have seen it all

They live their lives in sad cafés and music halls

And they always have a story

Some make it when they're young

Before the world has done its dirty job

And later on someone will say

"You've had your day, now you must make way"

Don't they always?

But you'll never know the pain of using a name you never owned

Or the years of forgetting what you know too well

That you who gave the crown, have been let down, you try to make amends

Without defending, perhaps pretending

You never saw the eyes of young men at 25

Who followed as you walked, asked for autographs

Kissed you on the cheek

You never could believe they really loved you, never

Some make it when they're old

Perhaps they have a soul they're not afraid to bare

Perhaps there's nothing there

But anyway, that isn't what I meant to say

I'm meant to tell about a story, since we all have stories

But can't remember it anyway

So I'll tell about the mood that's in the United States today

Impermeable even in Switzerland, it goes

But I'll continue anyway until I get it together

Some women have a body men will want to see

So they put it on display, some people play a fine guitar

I could listen to them play all day

But anyway, I'm trying to tell my story

Janis Ian told it very well

Janis Joplin told it even better

Billie Holiday even told it even better

We always, we always

We always have a story

The latest story that I know is the one that I'm supposed to go out with

And the latest story that I know is the one that I'm supposed to go out with

And the latest story that I know is the one that I'm supposed to go out with

And the latest story that I know is the one that I'm supposed to go out with