I'd like a one-way ticket home,
ticket home
Where I can watch television, talk
on the telephone
But every town I wander there's a
billboard on a throne
Ticket home
Ticket home
I want a ticket home
Does anybody know my name, or
recognize my face
I must have come from somewhere, but
I can't recall the place
they dropped me at the matinee, they
left without a trace
Ticket home
I want a ticket home
Elvis Presley is the king, I was at
his crowning
My life just flashed before my eyes,
I must be drowning
Seems like only yesterday I climbed
aboard the plane
Raping distance in the skies, while
diving in champagne
I would be in exile now, but
everywhere's the same
Ticket home
I want a ticket home
Elvis Presley is the king, I was at
his crowning
My life just flashed before my eyes,
I must be drowning
Seems like only yesterday I climbed
aboard the plane
Raping distance in the sky, while
diving in champagne
I would be in exile now, but
everywhere's the same
Ticket home
I want a ticket home
The first time I heard this song was at the Quiet Knight in Chicago. We were shooting pool with Bob Gibson and Arlo. I asked Phil to tell something of what happened in Dallas and Phil said "Stick around for the 2nd set". Well I did but he did not directly say anything about being there to see JFK killed. Bob and Arlo left and I was disappointed. Some years ago I bought a special tape of his two sets and on it he sang a different version of One Way Ticket Home. Elvis was not in this version and I am sure he was alluding to Dallas and his trip home. No "Elvis" in the version he sang that night in Chicago, it was "The Golden Idol is the king and I was at his crowning" The song is no way about Elvis and that was a distraction code for the public but missing from what he sang for me and I did not get it in Chicago because the song was new to me so it was the leaving out "Elvis" when I heard the tape and remembering him promising me he would say something about Dallas which hit me.
ReplyDeleteThe code for JFK was, "The Golden Idol is the King and I was at his crowning", which to me said was he was there and told me the top of his head was blown OFF, when he showed me some autopsy photos at his apt in LA in 74. The head shot was in the special song that night and if it wasn't for the tape I would never have gotten it many decades later. In the WC report there was a witness at the Texas Theater who told about this guy who was there but just watched and said nothing and the witness said it was strange to the Commission and even mentioned it to the police. I will speculate that Phil is saying in his song, he was dropped off at the matinee theater and they left without a trace and he survived Dallas and caught his one way ticket home.