1ST IN LINE

Underneath the skies unbroken ground
Side by side a walkin' 'til we've found
All the weary angels that we know
There's nothin' in this world like goin' home

No one on the road gets left behind
Every single one is first in line
Ain't no waitin' on no bus no rail
Ain't no sittin' down at the county jail

Don't you wait around for them to call
Don't you tarry 'round brother don't you stall
When she comes and goes she's gone again
Followin' me there you can't help but win
Help but win
Followin' me there you can't help but win

Paved by the ones before us went
To the soothin' sound of the sacrament
We lose our burdens soft and low
For Joshua, Judas and Jericho

Underneath the skies unbroken ground
Side by side a walkin' 'til we've found
No one on the road gets left behind
Every single one is first in line


2. ANTS ON THE MELON (With Due Regards To Virginia Adai)

I do declare and I do swear down to the soles of my shoes
My grass is green as the trees in spring and the sky is blue
Ants are crawlin' around the melon
The melon spiked with gin
I swear I swear I do declare
Gonna have a slice of melon again

I'm gonna fry me some chicken, baby
Fry me up some chickens tonight
Mash taters and butter and all the other
We gonna do it up right
I wanna see you naked, baby
See yer titties sittin' up high
Mash taters and butter and all the other
We gonna do it up right

I'm gonna put down my old brown cow
Gonna put down my brown cow
She was hurt when we was workin'
Gonna put down my brown cow
Load me up my ol' 22
Put the gun to her head
I pulled the trigger, just like I figger'd
Old brown cow was dead


3. BEST OF ME

A new present that's in
Wrapping paper that's in
Another bag within
A box headed for me

With love all over the floor
And up against the door
How could a man be poor
With you to keep him warm

Honey did you think
That you'd got the best of me
I think I'll sit here
'Til that angel falls from the tree

The tree leans to the right
Still usin' candles for lights
Dressed up in baubles and rings
And other fine things

But in a day or two
Out on the curb with you
We'll both be wearin' a frown
It happens all over town

Pines and needles refer
To resolutions that were
Made way back in the year
You'll tide me over for sure


4. BLANKETS

A long goodbye is comin' on
Just one more sun and I'll be gone
The roads will wind
And tracks will sing
'Til winter's moans turns into spring

And in the spring I brought you roses
And in the summer for you gold
And in the fall a blanket's warmin'
For in the winter to unfold

The long steel rails and short cross ties
Sing me back home like lullabies
And as I make my way back home again
I find no one to let me in


5. BOTTLE & A DIME

We was kickin' and a pushin'
And old fashioned ass whuppin'
But we never intended to hurt anyone

We was doin' just fine with a bottle & a dime
Scrap fer taste a wine
Bottle and a dime

Throttle and shine fer a bottle and a dime
Scrap fer taste a wine
Bottle and a dime

Throttle and shine fer a bottle and a dime
Make a model fer the crime
Bottle and a dime ... It's awright

Just that way
I had to go home and pray
They found me on the ledge
Cuz I flew from the coup

Throttle and shine fer a bottle and a dime
Make a model fer the crime
Bottle and a dime ... It's awright


6. CEILING'S LAEKING

Oh my ceilin's leakin'
And the peeper's peekin'
It's prolly someone I know
I booby trap the window
Can't get a hold of my landlord
I watch the mold grow It's on the tip of everybody's tongue
The lion sleeps the monkey has fun
I watch the candidate run
I watch the floodgate open
You can't sell it if you can't smell it
You know kickin' with odor
Out from under everybody's nose
You pull the wool over everybody's eyes
Oh what flight you on
I don't know I get off and I kiss the ground
Can I have a moment of
Where my deep green river
Flows
A step ahead of my Beezle-bub
It's on the tip of everybody's tongue
The lion sleeps the monkey has fun


7. FLOGGY BLOSSOM (Méchanical Bride)

Bi-cycles are everywhere
Fishbones a dollar, a natural pair
Mother of sorrows growing her hairs
The foggy blossoms ain't goin' no where
Blackberries on the belly they rot
Semen sailin' the Hungarian knot
Yella onions weepy and hot
Widow's moons in the sugary pot
Texas tinys they never thought
The rotation or the ring 01 the rock
Could make the women wantingly mock
The prohibition on cursing the cock
While the temple was under construction
It came down that there was corruption
The lord told' em detailed instructions
How to build a wagon 01 destruction
Said the apple to the snake
Yer erotic forks are fake
Said the goose to the jailer
Yer religious awe's a failure
Said the spider to the candle
Yer bride is mechanical
Monochromes strummin' their bones
Yella bikes high tail it on home
Shoelaces lor the superdome
Gots t' take it to the house
When yer in the red zone
Foggy blossom, mechanical bride
Crocodile eyes open wide
Wild ass sleeps on his side
And he'll eat anything as long as it's fried


8. HAM-FISTED BOX OF GLOVES

O Suzanna, please radio to the tower it's time to go
To the furthest reaches of the ham-fisted box of gloves

O Delilah, please endure the white haired ape's allure
His long distance roots are sound, since he sold his weapons to the crown

Please get yer hats off of my bed
Or I'll wake up in the morning wed
To the emerging majority
Facing a stark presidency

O saliva, please withdraw from the tribunal cat calls
The bare the hallmark of guilty film
Projected badly, up on the hill

Please get yer hats off of my bed
Or I'll wake up in the morning wed
To the emerging majority
Facing a stark presidency

O Lashonda, help the ugly ones purchase proper their vintage guns
Fly the flannel and put the dove in the ham-fisted box of gloves


9. HELLHOUNDS

As I walk the length of your broken fence
I cannot help but look inside
'Til someone hollers hey don't you pry
And I'm standing at the gate
No go and get you derelict or I'll sick my hounds on you
So I took off without mouthing off
Down the road to the State Fair
Now I see chickens, I see hens, I see the prized blue ribbon bird
But she ain't mine, mine placed third
Down at our State Fair
Now the State Fair has that carnie feel and it's smelling like my livestock barn
And the bearded lady's nice to me
We have cocktails in her trailer
Take it
Now her boyfriend he's the beanbag man
He's jealous as all hell you see
He caught me in her ole Airstreamer
Yes but, I ain't no home wrecker
On the way back home I pass again
The broken fence and I'm standing at the gate
I said buddy why don't you mend it
And he let his hell hounds loose


10. MY NAME IS JORGE

My name is Jorge and I twist and I juke
I roll into town with my wagon of fruit
I'll sell you an apple
I'll sell you an orange
And what you do with it ain't of my concerns

I once sold me an apple to William S. Burroughs
He shot up his dope, his Wine sap, his girl

And I sold me a lemon to Henry S. Ford
But he brought it back, I said, all sales are final

And I sold me a plum to a man who makes pies
Jack stuck in his thumb, oh what a surprise
And I sold sugar cane to Harvey Oswald
And he didn't shoot Johnny but I think he's involved

Yeah, I sold the cherries
I sold the pits
Them girls gettin' married, them girls havin' kids
And I won an award for a melon I growed
So I fixed up the wagon to vend a new load

But I won't sell no flowers no that ain't my gig
And i won't sell no cow, fish, fowl or pig
But I'll sell a bucket of peaches to Prine
'Cept he's got his own tree so he ain't shakin' mine

Once sold me a pear to Muhammed Ali
But I called him Clay so he punched me out
Now I'm punch drunk and my wagon's ka-poot
Said my name is Jorge and I twist and I juke

He roll into town with a wagon of fruit


11. RIGHT IN THE HEAD

If you don't pay me back forget it
I won't track you down

You have no debt
You already paid out yer mouth

I'm crawling in time
Give me back my wig
The brewer's yeast ferments and forgives all that you did

Mean while my motor drinks a quart of oil
That's what keeps her clean and on the road

Here's hoping yer trip is swift
What's the hurry, don't go

I'm happy to hear she ain't turnin' tricks no more
No she's turnin' over just fine
It's a new cellanoid

And we heard you spent some time in Escondido
No, someone fed you a line
I was just sleeping

And I always believed that more time should be spent in bed
And whoever said sleep is a thief just ain't right in the head


12. ROLL & TUMBLE

Salt in the sorrow and the sugar blooms
Consign yer bags to the hand of doom
Slick as death the velvet pistol starts
Like fat blood in a dying swimmer's heart
Roll and tumble and lose yer tunes
Life is a junker and a waiting room
Mercy be nimble and grace be slow
Juvenile walk lonesome and talk as low

Low as the fog and the dogs and grass
Weed out yer broken and stay in last
Hands of the sunshine are the hands of gold
Feet in the clay and yer feeling old
Put on yer muddy boots and walk out in the yard
So many things to bury but the ground is hard
Live like a racoon stay up all night
Bind yer worries smokin' and ya hold 'em tight

Roll and tumble and lose yer tunes
Life is a junker and a waiting room
Mercy be nimble and grace rush in
The beginning you bury and you keep the end


13. THE PRAYER THAT FELL UPON THE MIRROR

The talk of chocolate covered wingspans
Was suspicious in the sunlight

The talk of wisdom in the bargain
Made me want to keep it for myself

The woman beating on her weak man
She kept on beating on her weak man

The talk of giving up the feather
Was drowned out by the jet plane

The prayer that fell upon the mirror
Was held up to the sun

The sound of desperate quiet moonbeams
Was earth bound

The sound was sweet and forever
Would be kept from the world's ears

I let it die upon the black dirt
Of the best things that I've done


14. SMOCKE BEND

[Chorus:]

Now it's winter on the river
And a cold swift swollen tide
Meets a warm southern breeze
From the gulf of memories

Missouri and clear Ohio
Give their currents to the tide
Now the river's Louisiana's
For the willow tree-lined ride

From cruel Angola down to Venice
Scatterin' horseshoes everywhere
The river's Louisiana's
With no glory or bank to share

If the river had its way
The Atchafalaya'd be its home
Straighten out them horseshoes
Find another bank to roam

There's cane fires up the bank
Of that horseshoe of Smoke Bend
The smoke was double thick
And the fog was rollin' in

Tie your boat to a willow tree
Climb the bank so high
Above the blanket on the river
See every star in the sky

Smoke fog and family
Kept to that west bank town
Smoke and fog would burn and blow away
The folks they'd stay around

There was catfish with the Kingfish
And a culture spice gumbo
There's coonass music playing
On a glowin' radio

Klan and crackers on the side
At the Last Chance Cafe
Crawfish etouffee
Warm red river Beaujolais

[Chorus:]

They're sandbaggin' the levee
They're shovelin' night and day
It's the year of '27
Gonna wash us all away

The levee gonna bust
On your side or mine
A little dynamite on your side
Help the river make its mind

Folks left that west bank town
Left it all behind
Start life on higher ground
Gonna get out just in time

Now there's mint juleps at Oak Alley
There's poison in the air
There's new dangers on the river
It's so good to be from there

[Chorus:]


15. SVEET NUTTY

Sweet nutty joined the band

Sweet nutty come from ocalala
Hair down to his knees
Make the stones talk, make a cripple man walk
Make the thunder and the lightning freeze

Sweet nutty joined the band

He woke up one morning
Waiting for the FBI
Heard he got turned in by some long haired friend
For drivin' camels through a needle's eye

Sweet nutty joined the band

When he fell off of that mountain
Ain't said a word for eleven years
Climbed up a tree, killed eleven mockingbirds
Put their songs in a satchel full of tears

Sweet nutty joined the band


16. THE BRIDGE

Who else is gonna carry you across
Who's gonna make the delivery
And why am I always burning
You know the first bridge was a fallen tree

So go on and do likewise ladies
Cross with some confidence
You gotta sit and wait while I'm drunk
Or you're gonna wind up in the drink

If the billygoat was Bootsy
And the troll was Maceo
Only the godfather of soul
Can really take you to the bridge

Yeah, but you can't throw it in
Your typewriter, hand glider, shifty mobster and amplifier
Yeah, but you can't throw in
Your golf clubs and bowling balls, gas heaters and bald tires
Yeah, but you can't throw it in
Microwaves and old pill bottles, video tapes with porno on them
Yeah, but you can't throw it in
Old birdcages and lame weed eaters, murder weapons and blown speakers
Yeah, but you can't throw it in

Who else is gonna carry you across
Who's gonna make the delivery