The Sea Refuses No River - Pete Townshend

I remember being richer than a king

The minutes of the day were golden

I recall that when the joint passed 'round

My body felt a little colder

But now I’m like a sewer channel

Running lime and scag

Let me get at the master panel

Let me at my stack

The sea refuses no river

And right now

This river’s banks are blown

The sea refuses no river

Whether stinking and rank

Or red from the tank

Whether pure as a spring

There’s no damn thing stops the poem

The sea refuses no river

And this river is homeward flowing

I have seen a trace of strain

In other’s eyes, not spoken

I must admit that I enjoyed their pain

But this time it’s me that’s broken

I demand for you and His

This must be the time

When we decide what freedom is

Turn water into wine

For the sea refuses no river

We’re polluted now

But in our hearts still clean

The sea refuses no river

We tried not to age

But time had it’s rage

We’re washed over the stones

From babies into clones of the mean

The sea won’t refuse this muddy river

Won’t deny the sulfurous stream

There was a fool in a dressing robe

Riding out the twilight hour

Lonely and cold in an empty home

Trying to assess his power

But now he’s like a stream in flood

Swollen by the storm

He doesn’t care if he sheds his blood

Let him be reborn

The sea refuses no river

Remember that

When the beggar buys a round

The sea refuses no river

And rain fills the gutters

No time for stutters

This is our chance

To sing and to dance and to clown

The sea refuses no river

And rivers were sprung to drown

The sea refuses no river

No pecking code

Respected for the damned

The sea refuses no river

Whether starving and ill

Or strung on some pill

Just 'cos you own the land

There’s no unique hand plugs the dam

The sea refuses no river

And the river is where I am

The river is where I am