Twenty red lights in his honor

Far away eyes

I was driving home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield
Listening to gospel music on the colored radio station
And the preacher said, “You know you always have the
Lord by your side”

And I was so pleased to be informed of this that I ran
Twenty red lights in his honor
Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Lord

I had an arrangement to meet a girl, and I was kind of late
And I thought by the time I got there she’d be off
She’d be off with the nearest truck driver she could find
Much to my surprise, there she was sittin’ in the corner
A little bleary, worse for wear and tear
Was a girl with far away eyes

So if you’re down on your luck
And you can’t harmonize
Find a girl with far away
And if you’re downright disgusted
And life ain’t worth a dime
Get a girl with far away eyes

Well, the preacher kept right on saying that all I had to do was send
Ten dollars to the church of the sacred bleeding heart of Jesus
Located somewhere in Los Angeles, California
And next week they’d say my prayer on the radio
And all my dreams would come true
So I did, the next week I got a prayer with a girl
Well, you know what kind of eyes she got

So if you’re down on your luck
I know you all sympathize
Find a girl with far away eyes
And if you’re downright disgusted
And life ain’t worth a dime
Get a girl with far away eyes

– Mick Jagger/Keith Richards

(Released on the Rolling Stones’ album “Some Girls” in 1978.)

Note
After all these years I’m still pleasantly puzzled whenever I try to picture what these “far away eyes” might look like.
When “Some Girls,” an album with an original cover showing various actors – among them Marlon Brando and Brigitte Bardot – and the Rolling Stones printed on the inner sleeve through face-shaped cutouts, was released in 1978, many of the titles were hits and on the radio a lot. Including my car radio. To my knowledge, I did not run any red lights in the Rolling Stones’ honor even though I might have felt like it sometimes.

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