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