Home With You

I'm rollin' up to Memphis
Tonight on the I-55,
Tryin' not to breathe the diesel fumes
On this lonesome midnight drive.
My body's fairly achin',
I got coffee in my veins,
An' my windshield wipers are losin' big
Against the hard Tennessee rains.

There ain't many people I know
Who'd pick truckin' for a life,
An' for some who do it's all in one,
Girlfriend, mistress an' wife.
An' maybe there's a love in that,
Maybe its got its charms,
But I'll get all the love I need
When I fall back in your arms.

Don't need no honky tonks,
Don't need no bar and grills
Just to have a little fun,
Don't need smoky pool halls,
Don't need the county fair
Where I'd break balloons with a gun,
An' I don't need to spend
My sweet free time
Drinkin' beers with a buddy or two,
'Cause when I see your face
All I'll wanna do
Is stay at home with you.

The pay I get ain't shabby
An' I don't gotta deal with fools,
An' my community ain't on Facebook
But on hard diner bar stools.
An' I get to see America,
An' drive all across this land,
An' that really is some riches
For this poor ol' southern man.

Still the road goes on forever
An' motel rooms can feel so small,
An' I sometimes hear folks doin' the dirty
On the other side o' the wall.
So as I go to sleep in my cabin
I know I'll feel all right
When I gaze up at your photograph
Bathed in the neon twilight.

Don't need no rodeos,
Don't need no fishin' holes
To keep me occupied,
Don't need no bowlin' lanes,
Don't need no football games
To make me feel so satisfied,
Because oh, my God,
I'd be so hard put
To find another woman so true.
It's gonna be alright,
Just hold on one more night,
Then I'll be home with you.

Yeah, gonna give you all
Of my good lovin', baby,
When I come home to you.


DB/6.2018

Easy Train to Frisco

Well, I ain't lived in this world too long
But I sho' know I ain't free
From the heavy slaps of Alabama
An' the hemp steppin' in Mississippi,
An' with them crosses burnin' in Georgia
There's one thing I surely know,
Gotta find my freedom way out west
'Cuz that's where I'm gonna go.
An' you'd think it'd be hard,
Real hard,
Damn hard,
For me to up an' go,
But I'm tellin' you right now, boy,
I'm on the easy train to Frisco.

Got my beat-up bag an' my ticket,
Got no family I'll see again
'Cept my Missus who's the kisses
O' the ever-fallin' rain.
Sit back by a dirty window,
Knock the red dirt off my shoes,
But I smile as I think for the first time
I ain't feelin' the weary blues,
So you know it ain't hard,
Real hard,
Damn hard
For me to up an' go,
'Cuz you gotta realize by now, gal,
This is my easy train to Frisco.

Now here I be walkin' the city
Lookin' for Negroes that's free,
An' all o' them un-tasty crackers
Best stay far away from me.
I see them sunny crystal Bay waters
Winkin' easy as you please,
An' the South ain't none but a bad dream
An' my mind feels lots more at ease.
Oh, it wa'n't hard,
Real hard,
Damn hard,
For me to up an' go
To start a brand new life, y'all,
Right here in ol' Frisco.


DB/6.2018

Casanova Plays Romper Room (Ish)

Giacomo Casanova: Magic Masque, I want to know,
                                 Oh, show me please, oh, tell me so,
                                 Like sands of grain and skies of star 
                                 The many ladies I have loved thus far!

Oho! I see Elisabetta, Greta, Yvette, Angelica, Gertrude, Dominique, Chiara, Fiametta, Sophia, Heloise, Leonie, Rosamund, Mia the milkmaid (that was very refreshing, grazie!), Giulia from Venice, Teresa, Anna, Carlota, Giulia from Turin, Magda, Celeste, Linda, Roxane, Inez, Beatrice, Lily, Josefina, Paula, Clemence, Vittoria, Margot, Francesca, Lola, Giulia from Calabria (three scattered blood sisters named Giulia (if you can believe that), and I reunited them! - rewarded me handsomely with a menage a quatre! Grazie grazie grazie!), Amelie, Hannelore, Barbara, Maria, Aurora, Irene, Alessandra, Salome, Rebecca, Bianca, Isabella, Bertha, Greta, Zoe, Giada, Melissa, Sigrund, Emma, Felicia, Katherine (sighs)...need I really go on?

DB (aka you-know-who): How's about, umm, five more?

GC (sarcastically): Five? Really? Gosh, I'll try!  So...Leonie, Helena, Marta, Luisa aaannnd Belinda! How's that?

DB: Very good!

GC: Well, you try. I mean, I try.

Marie Antoinette (off): Oh, Giaceeeeee, I'm waiiitingg!!

GC: Ah, I hear the (current) Queen of my Heart now!

Benjamin Franklin (off): But she isn't going to wait for very looong, Giaceeeeee!!

GC: HEY, YOU BLOATED, STRINGY-HAIRED OLD COOT, KEEP YOUR STUBBY PIZZLE AWAY FROM HER!!!!!

BF (dryly): Oh. Ouch.

MA: Better get a move on, then, mon amour!!

BF: And fast, which is pretty much your speed anyway.

Pope (Not-so) Innocent III (off): Fie! A pox on you fornicators!

All: SHUT UP, INNOCENT!!!

Charles Dickens (off): Really, can't you do that somewhere, anywhere else?!

All: SHUT UP, CHARLES!!!

GC (muttering): Ahh, that damned Franklin! Peste! Listen, Dan, are we about through here?

DB: Yeah, pretty much.

GC: Good, good. Ladies and gentlemen, that is, as your American comedians say, my time, so I bid you a fond adieu and earnestly hope to be here again whenever I'm not, shall we say,"working" and also off the Spanish Fly. Until then! (starts to go, pauses) Oh, in case you all were wondering Dan has decided for a while to forego composing the third 'Dolls' dialogue with some of the lovely ladies in the Box over there in order to keep playing at 'lyricist' and also commit to other projects. I do hope you (and they) understand.

DB: Uh, yeahh...

Anne Bonney (off): Scalliwag!

Marie Antoinette (off): Cochon!

Cleopatra (off): Snake!

'Cleopatra' Bettie Page (off): I don't like that, Daniel, but Jesus and I both love and forgive you. Don't we, Lord?

Jesus Christ (off): Don't see what he needs forgiveness for, but sure, love ya, Dan!

DB: Aww, thanks, Jay! Sorry, ladies.

GC: Now are we done? Then sing me off, Lou Bega! Ciao! (exits)


Music: 'Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...)' by Lou Bega


DB/6.2018