If I Could Just Get It On Paper 

By: Jimmy Buffett 

1981 

For William Faulkner 

If I could just get it on paper 

The things that have happened tonight 

That seems to me to be the big key 

I'm havin' too good a time to ever turn 

Out the lights 



Go to bed wake up with a clear head 

Recallin' what made it a ball 

Yes if I could just get it on paper 

I might make some sense of it all 



If I could tell half of the stories 

The funny way most things begin 

Figure ways to disguise all the half-truths and lies 

Find the heart of my song with the point of a pen 



Simple words can become clever phrases 

And chapters could turn into books 

Yes if I could just get it on paper 

But it's harder than it ever looks 



(instrumental) 



All alone on the edge of the water 

Hidin' out by the Sea of Cortez 

With my sketch pads and Flairs 

Tapes and battery spares 

It's just no comprehendo to what everyone says 



Time alone seemed to work well for Faulkner 

Time away seems to work for the kid 

Life and ink they run out at the same time 

Or so said my old friend the squid 



Yes if I could just get it on paper tonight 

I could tell you what I think I did