Sketches Of China Lyrics - Paul Kantner

He's stronger by talk than by sight 

But by sight he'll know you 

You buy him a ride he'll know you 

Somebody's bound to lead you 

Sooner or later you're bound to go 

You don't even know what this man feels like 

And he doesn't care, doesn't care if you think you know 

Somebody's bound to lead you 

If that man got a smile on his face 

Sooner or later you're bound to go 

Bound to go 

Let me tell you bout a man I knew 

He roamed the depth and the breadth of China 

On a horse that he grew himself 

From the bark of a tree on mainland China 

And he had a time, yeah he had the time of his life in China 

He carried strife and harmony to all the people on the mainland, yes he did 

And there was a warlord who rode the murky depths of China 

With a shotgun in his hand, and he wondered where the people had gone to 

Have you got the time to listen while I sing this song 

I had the time to listen to the man go right and wrong and right through China 

And it ain't what you want, it's what you need 

No it ain't what you want, it's what you need 

And I'd rather be here than yesterday 

It ain't what you want, it's what you need 

And there was a lady she rolled around in town in China 

And there was a lady she rolled and rolled 

And she killed a war, she made the warlord rise in time 

She sat him down, took him down, and she laid him out for just one more round 

Drunk in a beautiful garden celebration 

Here comes the Khan, storm the palace, look for Alice 

Rising Oriental girl diving back for just one more pearl 

And it ain't what she wants, it's what she needs 

She don't want your sound, she wants your country 

And I'd rather be next year than on the way to Bombay 

Oh, it ain't what you want, it's what you need