Spike and Delilah — Two adult counterculture sweethearts repair a vintage motorcycle beside a bright Merced alley garden of cactus and delilah flowers

The songbook

Spike and Delilah

Words by Douglas Heyes Jr. Listen to the recorded versions and follow the lyric below.

Original Doug Heyes lyrics · AI-generated music & vocals

Spike and Delilah inhabit a playful imaginary prehistory in California, inventing useful things and discovering music amid canyon hazards. Fire, shoes, a wheel and the first guitar turn survival into a partnership. Their travels become a celebration of shared rhythm, with the couple's inventions drawing everyone around them into the dance.

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Recorded versions

3 recordings. Different voices and arrangements bring another side of the song into the light.

Lyrics

Spike and Delilah

Words by Douglas Heyes Jr

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Spike and Delilah
They were both made of names
Lived out in California
At the start of the whole game
Deep up in the canyon
Where the devil used to hide
Avalanches, thunderstorms
Wildfires and landslides

That's just the way they wanted it
They soon discovered fire
He carved himself a wheel of Rock
She heard the Angel Choir
He was always barefoot
So she made him some shoes
He made himself the first guitar
And he learned to play the Blues

Early Man up on the Stand
The Land of Red,
White and Blue
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Is jammin' close to you
Could be the End is comin' soon
But he don't understand
He's just howlin' at the Moon
Cuz he's the Early Man

Spike and his Delilah
They traveled cross the land
Everybody dancing
When there's strikin' up the band
Here's a little rhythm
You can knock out on a tree
Give me just a minute
Let the rhythm set you free
Gotta get down in it
If it's gonna work at all
Time to just begin i cuz we're going to have a ball

I tell ya, Early Man
Going to make you clap your hands
Going to turn you in a circle
As the wheel goes round and round
Baby, Early Man
Just as cool as he can be
Spike and Miss Delilah
Gonna make some history

He's the Early Man
Going to make you understand
Geometric logarithm
Syncopated catechism
He's the Early Man
And you better get away
There's another Jungle Jam
On the old jukebox today....

OUTRO:

He's the Early Man
You better get away
He's the Early Man
When his fingers start to play
Spike and Miss Delilah
Out in California
A little something for ya
Every single day....

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