Lyrics to
Casey’s Last Ride

This version of Casey’S Last Ride was released by John Denver in 1972.

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Casey joins the hollow sound of silent people walking down
the stairway to the subway in the shadows down below.
Following their footsteps through the neon darkened corridors
of silent desperation, never speaking to a soul.
The poison air he’s breathing has the dirty smell of dying
’cause it’s never seen the sunshine, and it’s never felt the rain.
But Casey minds the arrows and ignores the fatal echoes
of the clicking of the turnstile and the rattle of his chains.

“Oh,” she said, “Casey it’s been so long since I’ve seen you.
“Here,” she said, “just a kiss to make a body smile.”
“See,” she said, “I’ve put on new stockings just to please you.
“Lord,” she said, “Casey can you only stay awhile?”

Casey leaves the underground and stops inside the Golden Crown
for something wet to wipe away the chill that’s on his bones.
Seeing his reflection in the lives of all the lonely men
who reach for anything they can to keep from going home.
Standing in the corner, Casey drinks his pint of bitter,
never glancing in the mirror at the people passing by.
Then he stumbles as he’s leaving, and he wonders if the reason
is the beer that’s in his belly or the tear that’s in his eye.

“Oh,” she said, “I suppose you seldom think about me.”
“Now,” she said, “now that you’ve a family of your own.”
“Still,” she said, “it’s so blessed good to feel your body,”
“Lord,” she said, “Casey, it’s a shame to be alone.”

“Oh,” she said, “Casey it’s been so long since I’ve seen you.
“Here,” she said, “just a kiss to make a body smile.”
“See,” she said, “I’ve put on new stockings just to please you.
“Lord,” she said, “Casey can you only stay awhile?”
“Lord,” she said, “Casey, it’s a shame to be alone.”

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John Denver has released many songs over the years besides Casey’S Last Ride. John Denver released songs from 1969 to 1998 spanning across albums like Rhymes And Reasons, Take Me To Tomorrow, Whose Garden Was This?, Poems, Prayers And Promises, Aerie, Rocky Mountain High, Farewell Andromeda, Back Home Again, Rocky Mountain Christmas, An Evening With John Denver, Windsong, Spirit, I Want To Live, A Christmas Together, John Denver, Autograph, Some Days Are Diamonds, Seasons Of The Heart, Rocky Mountain Holiday, It's About Time, Dreamland Express, One World, Higher Ground, The Flower That Shattered The Stone, Christmas, Like A Lullaby, Different Directions, All Aboard!, and Forever, John. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by John Denver.

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About Lyrics and Casey’S Last Ride by John Denver

The lyrics to Casey’S Last Ride are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that John Denver used when the song was created in 1972. The lyrics to Casey’S Last Ride have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only John Denver and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Casey’S Last Ride by John Denver. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Casey’S Last Ride" means the words set to the music of Casey’S Last Ride, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by John Denver. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Casey’S Last Ride and the lyrics to Casey’S Last Ride are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of John Denver who came here looking just for the lyrics to Casey’S Last Ride, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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