It's only when the high winds blow That I wish my hair was longSailing through the autumn leaves Singing an ancient songI'm falling in love in the streets at night At the edge of a local squareIt's only that I am here tonight Thinking I was thereThere's high winds on the pier tonight My soul departs from meStriding like Talia's ghost south on the murky seaAnd into midnight's tapestry she fades ragged and wildSearching down her ancestry in the costume of a Persian childSo Gulf winds bring me flying fish That shine in the crescent moonShow me the horizon where the dawn will break anewAnd cool me here on this lonely pier With a hair and a flying loveBack with the songs my father knew In the towns of MexicoWhen I was young my eyes were wise My father was good to meInstead of having a flock of sons He had two other girls and meAnd if we'd have used our Spanish names Here's the way they'd runTalia, Margarita and Juanita I'm the middle oneThe screen door kept the demons in As we moved from town to townIt's hard to be a princess in the States When your skin is brownAnd Mama smoothed my worried brow As I leaned on the kitchen doorWhy do you carry the weight, she said, of the world And maybe moreGulf winds bring me flying fish That shine in the crescent moonShow me the horizon where the dawn will break anewAnd cool me here on this lonely pier With a hair and a flying loveBack with the songs my father knew In the towns of MexicoMy grandfather's were ministers And it came on down the lineMy father preached in his parents' church When he was ten years and nineAnd Mama dressed in parishioners' clothes And didn't believe in hellHer daddy fought the D.A.R. if he lived I'd have known him wellThey said, go find a Sunday school We must have tried them allI never stole from the silver plate My sisters had more gallOne preacher said, sing out loud and clear It's the only life you've gotAnd the next one said, be good on earth You've another life at the feet of GodAnd Gulf winds bring me flying fish That shine in the crescent moonShow me the horizon where the dawn will break anewAnd cool me here on this lonely pier With a hair and a flying loveBack with the songs my father knew In the towns of MexicoMy father turned down many a job Just to give us something realIt's hard to be a scientist in the States When you've got idealsAnd Mama kept the budget book And she kept the garden tooBought fish from the man on Thursdays Fed all of us and strangers tooBut time will pass and so will our lives Though most of what we knowThough tonight my memory's eyes clear As the story's being toldAnd I'll play ball with the underdog And sit with a child who's wrongBe still when the earth is silent and sing When my strength is goneSo Gulf winds bring me flying fish That shine in the crescent moonShow me the horizon where the dawn will break anewAnd cool me here on this lonely pier With a hair and a flying loveBack with the songs my father knew In the towns of MexicoMy father's going to India sometime in the fallThey try to stay together but you just can't do it allI'll think about him if he goes There's a little grey in his hairThough not much cause he's a Mexican They don't age, they just prepareAnd if he goes to India I'll miss him most of allHe'll see me in the mudlark's face Hear me in the beggar's callAnd Mama will stay home I guess And worry if she did wrongAnd I'll say a prayer for both of them And sing them both my songAnd Gulf winds bring me flying fish That shine in the crescent moonShow me the horizon where the dawn will break anewAnd cool me here on this lonely pier With a hair and a flying loveBack with the songs my father knew In the towns of MexicoMy father's going to India sometime in the fall