Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

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's 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 Mobile

With the Memphis blues again

Now the senator came down here

Showing ev'ryone 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 Memphis blues again

Now the preacher

Looked so baffled

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

In 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