Lyrics
Well the ragman draw circles
Up and down the block.
I ask him what's the matter
But I know he don't talk.
And the ladies they treat me kindly
And they furnish me with tape.
But deep inside my heart
I know I can't escape.
Whoa, 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 bells,
Speaking with 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.
Whoa, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again.
Mona tried to warn me
To stay away from the train line.
She says all the railroad men
Drink up your blood like wine.
And I said, "Oh, I didn't know that.
But then again, there's only one I've met.
And he just smoked my eyelid
And punched my cigarette."
Whoa, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again.
Grandpa died last week
They buried him in the rocks.
Everybody still talks about
How badly they are 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.
Whoa, 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,
Handing out free tickets
To the wedding of his son.
And me, I nearly got busted,
Wouldn't it be my luck
To be caught without a ticket
And be discovered beneath a truck.
Whoa, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again.
Now the preacher looked so baffled
When I asked him why he dressed,
With fifty pounds of headlines
Stapled to his chest.
But he cursed me when I proved it to him,
Said, "Not even you can hide.
You see, you're just like me and I me and I me and I
Hope you're satisfied."
Whoa, 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 first was Texas medicine,
The other was just railroad gin.
And like a fool I mixed them
And it strangled up my mind,
And now people just get uglier
An' I have no sense of time.
Whoa, 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 come on now,
You must know about my debutante."
She says, "Your debutante just knows what you need,
But I know what you want."
Whoa, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again.
Now the bricks they lay on Grand Street
Where the neon madmen climb.
They all fall there so perfectly,
It all seems so well timed.
Me, I sit here so patiently
Tryin to find out what price,
You have to pay to get out of
Going through all of these things twice.
Whoa, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again.
Whoa, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again.
