Standard (EADGBE)

Oh the rag-man 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 a 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 mail box 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 far away from the railroad line.

She said that all the railroad men

Drink your blood like wine.

An' I said "Oh, I didn't know that

But then again there's only one I've me

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 rock

But everybody talk 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 everyone 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 when I proved to him

Then I whispered not even you can hide.

You see you're just like me

I hope your 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 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 honkey-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 knows just 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 on 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?