THE HITTER

Come to the door, Ma, and unlock the chain
I was just passin'' through and got
caught in the rain
There''s nothin'' that I want, nothin'' that you need say
Just let me lie down a while
and I''ll be on my way.

I was no more than a kid
when you put me on the Southern Queen
With the police on my back I fled to New Orleans.
I fought in the dockyards
and with the money I made.
I knew the fight was my home and blood
was my trade

Baton Rouge, Ponchatoula, and Lafayette town
Well, they paid me their money, Ma,
I knocked the man down
I did what I did it come easily
Restraint and mercy, Ma,
were always strangers to me

I fought champion Jack Thompson
in a field full of mud
Rain poured through the tent canvas
and mixed with our blood
In the twelfth I slipped my tounge
over my broken jaw
I stood over him
pounded his bloody body into the floor
Well the bell rang and rang and still I kept on
''Till I felt my glove leather slip
''tween his skin and bone

Then the women and the money came fast
and the days I lost track
The women red, the money green,
but the numbers were black.
I fought for the men in their silk suits
to lay down their bets
Well I took my good share, Ma, I have no regrets

I took the fix at the state armory
with Big John MacDowell
From high in the rafters I watched myself fall
As they raised his arm my stomach twisted
and the sky it went black
I stuffed my bag with their good money
and I never looked back

Understand, in the end, Ma, every man plays the game
Well if you know me one different then speak out his name
Ma, if my voice now you don''t recognize
Then just open the door and look into your dark eyes
I ask of you nothin'', not a kiss not a smile,
Just open the door and let me lie down for a while

Now the gray rain''s fallin'' and my ring fightin''s done
So in the work fields and alleys, I take all who''ll come
If you''re a better man than me
then just step to the line
Show me your money and speak out your crime
Now there''s nothin'' I want, Ma,
nothin'' that you need say.
Just let me lie for a while and I''ll be on my way

Tonight in shipyard
a man draws a circle in the dirt
I move to the center and take off my shirt
I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain,
no time can erase
I move hard to the left and I strike to the face

_______________________________________________________________________

ALL I''M THINKING ABOUT

Bling man wavin''
by the side of the road
I''m in a flat bed Ford
carrying a heavy load
With a sweet thing slippin''
on a blueberry wine
On a flat black highway
down in Carolina
Black bird slippin'' in a sky of blue

All I''m thinkin'' about is you, baby
All I''m thinkin'' about is you, honey
All I''m thinkin'' about is you, baby
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
Ain''t nothin'' in this world
I can do about it
All I''m thinkin'' about is you

Little boy carryin'' a fishin'' pole
Little girl pickin'' berries
straight off the vine
Brown bag filled
with a little green load
We hook ''em through the lip
and throw ''em off of the line
Your sweet brown legs
get me feeling so blue

All I''m thinkin'' about is you, baby
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
All I''m thinkin'' about is you, baby
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
Ain''t nothin'' in this world
I can do about it
All I''m thinkin'' about is you

Black car shinin'' on a Sunday morn
Mama go to church now
Mama go to church now
Friday night daddy''s shirt is torn
Daddy''s goin'' downtown
daddy''s goin'' downtown
Ain''t no one understand
this sweet thing we do

All I''m thinkin'' about is you, baby
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
All I''m thinkin'' about is you, baby
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
Ain''t nothin'' in this world
I can do about it
All I''m thinkin'' about is you

Field turned up, the seed is sowed
Rain comin'' in
from over ''cross the road
Big black curtain comin''
''cross the field
Blind ''ll see, the lame will be healed
Brown eyed girl, I turned my back
on you, now it''s lonely

All I''m thinkin'' about is you, babe
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
All I''m thinkin'' about is you, babe
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
Ain''t nothin'' in this world
take away the blues
All I''m thinkin'' about is you

All I''m thinkin'' about is you, babe
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
All I''m thinkin'' about is you
Ain''t nothin'' in this world
I can do about it
All I''m thinkin'' about is you

_______________________________________________________________________

MATAMOROS BANKS

For two days the river keeps you down
Then you rise to the light without a sound
Past the playgrounds and empty switching yards
The turtles eat the skin from your eyes, so they lay open to the stars

Your clothes give way to the current and river stone
''Till every trace of who you ever were is gone
And the things of the earth they maske their claim
That the things of heaven may do the same

Goodbye, my darling, for your love I give God thanks,
Meet me on the Matamoros
Meet me on the Matamoros
Meet me on the Matamoros banks

Over rivers of stone and ancient ocean beds
I walk on sandals od twine and tire tread
My pockets full of dust, my mouth filled with cool stone
The pale moon opens the earth to its bones
I long, my darling, for your kiss, for your sweet love I give God thanks
The touch of your loving fingertips
Meet me on the Matamoros
Meet me on the Matamoros
Meet me on the Matamoros banks

Your sweet memory comes on the evenin'' wind
I sleep and dream of holding you in my arms again
The lights of Brownsville, across the river shine
A shout rings out and into the silly red river I dive
I long, my darling, for your kiss, for your sweet love I give God thanks
A touch of your loving fingertips
Meet me on the Matamoros
Meet me on the Matamoros
Meet me on the Matamoros banks

Meet me on the Matamoros
Meet me on the Matamoros
Meet me on the Matamoros banks