Don McLean
Don McLean - The Legend Of Andrew McCrew lyrics
Your rating:
There was a mummy at the fair, all crumpled in a folding chair The people passed, but didn't care that the mummy was a man So tell me if you can Who are you, who are you? Where have you been, where are you going to? Well, Andrew McCrew must have lost his way 'Cause though he died long ago, he was buried today Down on nightmare alley, where the shady people sway A hobo came a-hiking on a salty summer day Well, he hopped a freight in Dallas and he rode out of sight But on a turn he slipped, and he lost his grip And he fell in-to the night Who are you, who are you? Where have you been, where are you going to? Well, Andrew McCrew must have lost his way 'Cause though he died long ago, he was buried today Well, Andrew had one leg of wood, the other leg was small And when he fell off the train that night he found he had no legs at all Well they found him in the thicket and the undertaker came And they mummified his body for a relative to claim Who are you, who are you? Where have you been, where are you going to? Well, Andrew McCrew must have lost his way 'Cause though he died long ago, he was buried today Well, no one came to claim him, until the carnival passed through The carnies took him to their tent and they decided what to do Well, they dressed him in a worn-out tugs and they put him on a stand And millions saw the legend called the "famous mummy man" Well, who are you, who are you? Where have you been, where are you going to? Well, Andrew McCrew must have lost his way 'Cause though he died long ago, he was buried today Well, what a way to live a life and what a way to die Left to live a living death with no one left to cry Petrified amazement, a wonder beyond words A man who found more life in death than life gave him at birth Oh, who are you, who are you? Where have you been, where are you going to? Well, Andrew McCrew must have lost his way 'Cause though he died long ago, he was buried today But what about the ones who live and wish that they could go Whose lives are lost to living and performing for the show Well, at least you got the best of life until it got the best of you So from all of us to what's left of you Farewell, Andrew McCrew Nice to know: The song is based on an authentic case. Andrew McCrew toured with the carnival, posthumously, for about 35 years. He was buried in 1973. That was when Don McLean read an article about him and wrote the song. When the song came out, someone stepped forward and donated a headstone on McCrew's previously unmarked grave. The fourth verse of the song is carved on the headstone. (Anyway, that's what Don McLean tells on the live album.)