When the Dinner Bell Rings Lyrics

When The Dinner Bell Rings
John Hartford-Walls We Bounce Off Of
Banjo tuned E, Capo 3, Key of G
Lyrics From: Jim Dixon Mudcat Cafe
John Hartford played the fiddle almost constantly in the key of G
going to D7 then back to G in last line of each verse. I wish I knew
the story or background that prompted this unusual song.
WHEN THE DINNER BELL RINGS
As sung by John Hartford on "Walls We Bounce Off Of" (1994)
When I look at this fiddle
The color of your skin
As smooth as the desert inside your eyes
Round as the world you profess not to be a part of
When I deal this card,
One of many that are capable of playing poker
Like the game we play with each other when we are alone
As a single mouse muffin on a new high-school diploma
So pulling back this lever
I start the engine like some diesel belt
Which like my love of you shall not perish forever
And the best-loved songs of the American people, like the crowd
That dances in ever-widening circles
Around these fiddlers here who practice their sawmill movements
Changing only when the dinner bell rings