|
Oh, the ragman draws circles |
|
Up and down the block. |
|
I'd ask him what the matter was |
|
But I know that he don't talk. |
|
And the ladies treat me kindly |
|
And furnish me with tape, |
|
But deep inside my heart |
|
I know I can't escape. |
|
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again. |
|
Well, Shakespeare, he's in the alley |
|
With his pointed shoes and his bells, |
|
Speaking to some French girl, |
|
Who says she knows me well. |
|
And I would send a message |
|
To find out if she's talked, |
|
But the post office has been stolen |
|
And the mailbox is locked. |
|
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again. |
|
Mona tried to tell me |
|
To stay away from the train line. |
|
She said that all the railroad men |
|
Just drink up your blood like wine. |
|
An' I said, "Oh, I didn't know that, |
|
But then again, there's only one I've met |
|
An' he just smoked my eyelids |
|
An' punched my cigarette. |
|
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again. |
|
Grandpa died last week, |
|
And now he'd buried in the rocks, |
|
But everybody still talks about |
|
How badly they were shocked. |
|
But me, I expected it to happen, |
|
I knew he'd lost control |
|
When he built a fire on Main Street |
|
And shot it full of holes. |
|
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobil |
|
With the Memphis blues again. |
|
Now the senator came down here |
|
Showing ev'ry one his gun, |
|
Handing out free tickets |
|
To the wedding of his son. |
|
An' me, I nearly got busted |
|
An' wouldn't it be my luck |
|
To get caught without a ticket |
|
And be discovered beneath a truck. |
|
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Menphis blues again. |
|
Now the preacher looked so baffied |
|
When I asked him why he dressed |
|
With twenty pounds of headlines |
|
Stapled to his chest. |
|
But he cursed me when I proved it to him. |
|
Then I whispered, "Not even you can hide. |
|
You see, you're just like me, I hope you're satisfied. |
|
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end. |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again. |
|
Now the rainman gave me two cures, |
|
Then he said, Jump right in. |
|
The one was Texas medicine, |
|
The other was just railroad gin. |
|
An' like a fool I mixed them |
|
An' it strangled up my mind |
|
An' now people just get uglier |
|
An' I have no sense of time. |
|
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again. |
|
When Ruthie says come see her |
|
In her honky-tonk lagoon, |
|
Where I can watch her waltz for free |
|
'Neath her Panamanian moon |
|
An' I say, "Aw come on now, |
|
You must know about my debutante, |
|
An' she says, "Your debutante just knows what you |
|
need |
|
But I know what you want. |
|
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again. |
|
Now the bricks lay on Grand Street |
|
Where the neon madmen climb. |
|
They all fall there so perfectly, |
|
It all seems so well timed. |
|
An' here I sit so patiently |
|
Waiting to find out what price |
|
You have to pay to get out of |
|
Going through all these things twice. |
|
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again. |
