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by Jimmy Buffett and Michael Utley

African drums are silent and the Wingos are poets at last
Out on Dafuskie island, the bulldozers bury the past
And the low country sinks, she can not swim
  the dogwood feels the hurt
While the foursome plays on borrowed days in their alligator shirts

Chorus:
Now I realize who killed the Prince of Tides
How can you tell how it used to be
When there's nothing left to see

One night they put a price on the sunset
And that the got the whole earth shaking
Those rose from the grave both the weak and the brave
Because history was there for the making
And the winos surrounded the condos forming a frail human fence
And they shouted out loud to the roar of the crowd
"Same old story, more dollars than sense"

Chorus:
Now I realize who killed the Prince of Tides
How can you tell how it used to be
When there's nothing left to see

Paperback novels make the young girls dream
And Judy's spending quieter days in the stream
With Giovinno, Goodman and Mac D
They were such good friends to me

Chorus:
Now I realize who killed the Prince of Tides
How can you tell how it used to be
When there's nothing left to see

Heaven knows but God decides
When to kill the Prince of Tides
How can you tell how it used to be
When there's nothing left to see

Nothing left to see
And beach music beach music beach music just plays on