Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (Live at the Meadowlands, October 16, 1989)

[Verse 1]

Well, the ragman, he draws circles, up and down the block

I'd 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, I know I can't escape

[Chorus]

Oh, mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again

[Verse 2]

Now, Shakespeare he's in the alley

With his pointed shoes and bell

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

[Chorus]

Oh, oh mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 3]

Now, Mona tried to warn me, said stay away from the railroad line

She says all the railroad men, they 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 eyelids, and he punched my cigarette

[Chorus]

Oh, oh mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again

[Verse 4]

Grandpa, he died last week, and they buried him in the rocks

Now, everyone 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 he shot it full of holes

[Chorus]

Oh, mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 5]

Now the senator, he came down here, showing everyone his gun

Handing out free tickets to the wedding of his son

And me, I nearly got busted, and wouldn't it be my luck

To get caught without a ticket and be discovered beneath a truck

[Chorus]

Oh, mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again

[Verse 6]

Now the preacher, he looks 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 said, "See, not even you can hide

You see, you're just like me, and I hope you're satisfied"

[Chorus]

Oh, oh mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again

[Verse 7]

Now the rainman gave me two cures, then he said, "Jump right in"

The first was Texas medicine, the second was just railroad gin

But like a fool I mixed them, and it strangled up my mind

And now people just get uglier, and I've got no sense of time

[Chorus]

Ooh, mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 8]

And when Ruthie says come see me in a honky-tonk lagoon

Where I can watch her waltz for free, 'neath her Panamanian moon

And I said, "Oh come on now, you know about my debutante"

And she says, "Your debutante knows just what you need

But I know what you want"

[Chorus]

Oh, mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again

[Verse 9]

The bricks, they lay on Grand Street, where the neon madmen climb

They all fall there so perfectly, it all seems so well timed

And here I sit so patiently, waiting to find out what price

You have to pay to get out of

Going through all of these things twice, twice

[Chorus]

Oh mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again

[Outro]

Oh, mama, can this really be the end?

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again