Isis (Live at Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec - December 1975)

It's for Leonard, if he's still here
I married Isis on the fifth day of May
But I could not hold on to her very long
So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away
For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong

I came to a high place of darkness and light
The dividing line ran through the center of town
I hitched up my pony to a post on the right
Went in to a laundry to wash my clothes down

A man in the corner approached me for a match
I knew right away he was not ordinary
He said, "Are you looking for something easy to catch?"
I said, "I got no money, man", he said, "That ain't necessary"

We set out that night for the cold in the North
I gave him my blanket and he gave me his word
I said, "Where we're going?", he said, "We'd be back by the fourth"
I said, "That's the best new that I've ever heard"

I was thinking 'bout turquoise, I was thinking 'bout gold
I was thinking 'bout diamonds and the world's biggest necklace
As we rode through the canyons through the devilish cold
I was thinking 'bout Isis, how she thought I was so reckless

She told me how that one day we meet up again
And things would be different the next time we wed
If I only could hang on and just be her friend
I still can't remember all the best things she said

We came to the pyramids all embedded in ice
He said, "There's a body I'm trying to find
If I carry it out it'll bring a good prize"
It was then that I knew what he had on his mind

Well, the wind it was howling and the snow was outrageous
We chopped through the night and we chopped through the dawn
When he died I was hoping that it wasn't contagious
But I made up my mind that I had to get on

I broke into the tomb but the casket was empty
There was no jewels, no nothing I felt I'd been had
When I saw that my partner, he was just being friendly
When I took up his offer, Lord, I must've been mad

I picked up his body and I dragged him inside
Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover
I said a quick prayer just to feel satisfied
Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her

She was there in the meadow where the creek used to rise
Blinded by sleep and in need of a bed
I came in from the East with the sun in my eyes
I cursed her one time then I rode on ahead

She said, "Where you been?", I said, "No place special?"
She said, "You look different", I said, "Well, I guess"
She said, "You been gone", I said, "That's only natural"
She said, "You gonna stay?", I said, "If you want me to, yes"

Isis, oh Isis, you're a mystical child
What drives me to you is what drives me insane
I still can remember the way that you smiled
On the fifth day of May in the drizzling rain