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Ah, the rag man draws circles up and down the block |
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I'd ask him what the matter was, but I know that he don't talk |
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And the ladies treat me kindly and they furnish me with tape |
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But deep inside my heart, I know I can't escape |
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Oh, mama |
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Can this really be the end? |
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To be stuck inside of Mobile |
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With the Memphis blues again? |
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Well, Shakespeare, he's in the alley with his pointed shoes and his bells |
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Speaking to some French girl who says she knows me well |
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And I would send a message to find out if she's talked |
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But the post office has been stolen and the mailbox is locked |
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Oh, mama |
|
Can this really be the end? |
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To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again? |
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Mona tried to tell me to stay away from the train line |
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She said that all the railroad men just drink up your blood like wine |
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And I said, "Oh, I didn't know that, but then again, there's only one I've met |
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And he just smoked my eyelids and punched my cigarette" |
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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's buried in the rocks |
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But everybody still talks about how badly they were shocked |
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But me, I expected it to happen, I knew he'd lost control |
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When he built a fire on Main Street and shot it full of holes |
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Oh, mama |
|
Can this really be the end? |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again? |
|
Now the senator came down here, showing everyone his gun |
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Handing out free tickets to the wedding of his son |
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And me, I nearly got busted, and wouldn't it be my luck |
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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 Memphis blues again? |
|
Now the teen preacher looked so baffled when I asked him why he dressed |
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With twenty pounds of headlines stapled to his chest |
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But he cursed me when I proved to him, then I whispered, said "Not even you can hide |
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You see, you're just like me, I hope you're satisfied" |
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Oh, mama |
|
Can this really be the end? |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again? |
|
Now the rain man gave me two cures, then he said, "Jump right in" |
|
The one was Texas medicine, the other was just railroad gin |
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And like a fool, I mixed them, and it strangled up my mind |
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And now people just get uglier, and 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 honky-tonk lagoon |
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Where I can watch her waltz for free 'neath her Panamanian moon |
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And I say, "Ah, come on now, you know about my debutante" |
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And she says, "Your debutante just knows what you need, but I know what you want" |
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Oh, mama |
|
Can this really be the end? |
|
To be stuck inside of Mobile |
|
With the Memphis blues again? |
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Now the bricks lay on Grand Street where the neon madmen climb |
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They all fall there so perfectly, it all seems so well-timed |
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And 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 |
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Oh, mama |
|
Is this really the end? |
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To be stuck here inside of Mobile |
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With the Memphis blues again? |
