Carmichael - Neil Young

Silk scarf and a napkin
Hidden in a drawer
Two hundred bucks in an envelope
Labeled Lenore

"Maybe she shouldn't see this
She should never know,"
Said the widow's best friend Anne,
"I'll just take it and go

I'll give her the money later
Say it was in his shoe
That way she'll never find out...
That'll do"

"Carmichael was a credit to the force
In everything he did
It's like we got a big hole in our side
Where he fit

If any of you officers
Would like to say a word
Now would be the time
To be heard"

"Thank you chief, I sure would
He was a partner of mine
He was always very careful
And played it straight down the line"

One by one the officers spoke
And the service drew to a close
He had no living relatives
But his wife who never showed

She just couldn't face the men
They all understood
They got in their cars and drove home
As directly as they could

"Carmichael you asshole,"
The new widow sobbed beneath her veil,
"shot down in the line of duty
Is this how justice never fails?

I wish that things were better
When we said goodbye today
But we had our share of good times though
Along the way

Remember
'Hey mr. las vegas
You used to be so cool!'
We met Wayne Newton down at pebble beach
And you acted like a fool

But we both just couldn't stop laughin'
It seemed so funny to us
We left our luggage back in the room and almost missed the bus

That was a great vacation
Maybe the best of all
But goddamnit Carmichael you're dead now
And I'm talkin' to the wall"

The force got back to normal
Carmichael was replaced
For one year nobody parked a car
In Carmichael's space