She came to me so young and free, and put her arms around me,
She said that she would always stay, with me until my dying day.
We grew up in a dirty town, where they like to kick you when you're down,
If you show an easy side, they twist the knife and open you wide.
Oh Anna ... Oh Anna
Remember how you cried when I bought a gun. I've never been one to turn and run;
Everybody's got to have a dream to help them make it down the stream,
If they cannot chain or buy you... you know they'll try to crucify you.
Now I'm out here on the road, Thinking about my way back home.
Oh Anna ... Oh Anna.
We had a dream that didn't last, like a fly in amber I'm trapped in the past.
Stay on your feet in this human race, you think about a lover or a special place.
Lost you somewhere down the road now I hear you singing when I'm all alone.
You're the only one, makes me feel this way... keep on searching for you every day.
Oh, Anna, Oh Anna...
Oh, Anna, Oh Anna...
sitenote:
Michael Norton from Australia wrote the lyric and has a good recollection of what happened:
One day in 1977 [probably August, ed] I recorded John performing the music for the In Search Of Anna film. It was in the following year of 1978 (in anticipation of John's second tour of Australia) that I wrote the lyrics for the Theme Song "In Search Of Anna ", and we recorded it in July [29] a few days before he left the country. We also recorded the song (and several others) in performance at the Kirk Gallery in Sydney.
I recently [2002, ed] re-mastered the Anna Music and Kirk Gallery recordings. There is about sixty minutes of material which includes, two versions of In Search of Anna. There is also a version of a song called Carry Me Back To Tennessee which I had never heard before [Ellie Rhee, ed]. The version of In Search Of Anna that is in the film is the same as the 7" single. The only difference being that I chopped it around to suit the film storyline, but it is the same performance.
This is correct as Ian Barnett transcribed these lyrics from the soundtrack of the film. The changing of the order happens often in John's songs.
Film version
She came to me so young and free,
And put her arms around me,
She said that she would always stay
With me until my dying day.
Oh, Anna, Anna...
We grew up in a dirty town,
Where they like to kick you when you're down,
If you show an easy side,
They twist the knife and open you wide.
If they cannot chain or buy you,
You know they'll try to crucify you.
Now I'm out here on the road,
Thinking about my way back home.
Remember how you cried when I bought a gun.
I've never been one to turn and run;
Everybody has got to have a dream
To help them make it down the stream.
We had a dream that didn't last,
Like a fly in amber I'm trapped in the past.
Stay on your feet in this human race,
You think about a lover or a special place.
Lost you somewhere down the road.
Now I hear you singing when I'm alone.
You're the only one, makes me feel this way;
Keep on searching for you every day.
Oh, Anna, Anna...
sitenote:
There are also live recordings from 1979 (Turin), 1980 (Amsterdam), 1981 (Dominion, London) and 1983 (Glasgow and New York). The New York version from the Bottom Line is rather short.