Let's Put a Fence Around Texas

(chorus)

let's put a fence around Texas and keep everybody else out

nobody outside of Texas knows what our great state's about

I've been sharing every damn thing all my life so far

so let's put a fence around Texas and we'll charge them by the car

I 'member when my daddy used to bounce me on his knee

He'd say "Son, they got to hand it to us, noone else's like me

we might not be as bright or cute or smart or fun to be around

and hey, when you think about it like that son....aw, just forget it".

(chorus)

"I've travelled 'round this whole big world, and every place I've been

I cannot find another spot where horses smell like men

the desert with the drillin' rigs, now boy ain't that a sight?

we're keepin' everybody down who couldn't be born white."

(chorus)

You can chug a beer in Texas while you drive your pickup home

wanna fire off some shots downtown?  Just go and git you some!

we haven't got it figured how to make this whole thing pay

so let's put a fence up, charge 'em tolls, thank you much now, have a nice day!

(chorus)

(spoken)

I can see you pounding fencepost, Tex, just think what you'll begin

whatever keeps the others out will keep those Texans in!

one day we'll lock the gate and then we'll throw away the key!

so let's put a fence around Texas!  Sounds pretty damn good to me!

(chorus)

M@ 2000

Havin' a Good Time Now

She got the judo, put me end-over-endo.

she bust me up just like a bullet through the window.

she held me down and ripped the balls off of me.

Now I'm a sailor at the bottom of the sea.

She had me beggin' and a-cryin' for mercy.

A mercy fuck, some other pleasure to hurt me.

She ask me why I don't compare to other men.

She hold me up so she can knock me down again (let's have)

One more song about the pain and the sorrow,

one more song about there bein' no tomorrow,one more song

'bout all of the women in the world that will not sleep with me.

I've been down

but I'm havin' a good time now.

Time has passed and the Grim Reaper is callin'.

She had a chest but how the mighty have fallen

and her caboose was just a marvel of a can

but now she looks just like the Michelin Man!

I check myself and I clean up pretty good

now her torso is a run-down neighborhood

I try to sympathize, say ain't it a shame

how Mother Nature evens up every game? (let's have)

One more song about the pain and the sorrow

one more song about there bein' no tomorrow, one more song

'bout all of the women in the world that will not sleep with me.

I've been down

but I'm havin' a good time now

havin' a good time now

I'm havin' a good time now.

Shiva Ramona

Never had a son.  Man, they let her run.

Uptown Chicago to Northwestern.

Shiva.  Shiva Ramona.

Had all she needed, never lacked a thing, 

silver and diamonds, necklaces and rings.

Shiva.  Shiva Ramona.

She started out as Suzy

or some such other name

and somewhere down the line it didn't seem to feel the same

Went to California,

hooked up with the tribe.

Pretty soon she's sproutin' dreads and puffin' all the time.

Leaned on the trust, got her through the bust

did all the dudes, 'Ludes and Angeldust

Shiva.  Shiva Ramona.

Burnt up like a cinder but she never paid the price.

Daddy was a good guy and her mama asked her twice.

Never was a hooker, she never was a clerk,

never had to watch the kids and listen to the jerk.

Now she's a veggie, cleanin' up her scene.

She's a healthy hippie at the Rainbow Gathering.

Shiva.  Shiva Ramona.

Workin' at the vending booth, the natural foods store.

Festivals and vegetables, now who could ask for more?

Had it with the 9-to-5, never even started.

Leavin' trails of dreaddy boys lost and broken hearted.

Out on the corner, that's her over there,

Washington park, Boston on the square.

Shiva.  Shiva Ramona.

Evergreen and Ashville, Boulder and Sedona,

you just look around, I know you're gonna spy Ramona.

Austin and Atlanta, Taos and the Keys,

doin' yoga, smokin' up and shootin' the breeze

She's a good girl, man, she's got the world

tied on a string, such a pretty thing. 

Shiva.  Shiva Ramona.

Talkin' 'bout Shiva. Shiva Ramona.

I'm all about Shiva.  Shiva Ramona.

M@ 2008 

Pineapple Girl

woke up today

the sun was shining in my window at dawn

heard someone say 

"I know he's in there when his curtain's drawn

Hello Mr. Tourist, can you still be sleeping?

Can I give you something that is really good?"

pineapple girl

I'd stay forever if I thought I could

live on the strand

sleep on the beach under the moon and stars

holding my hand, she sees the people on their way to the bars

walking all day down the sandy pathway

asking everybody do they want to buy

"Pineapple, sir?

Only for you I make a special price

Only for you I make it taste so nice."

you're such a cutie when your face blooms in a smile

you'll be a beauty soon, in just a little while

pineapple girl

remember me when all the fruit is sweet

listen to the voices of the tourists laughing

thinking this is heaven but it's all that you know

pineapple girl

your mother's calling you, it's time to go

M@ 1999

Different Me

monday morning, the blender won't start

car turning over, that's the easy part

sun goes down, different town

different woman, I look up to see her

different me as a face in the mirror

midday and ain't had no breakfast

I'm a wreck and I'm feeling kinda reckless

got no time, seems like I'm

spinnin' wheels, I got no place to go

sweeps over me as I'm sweeping the floor 

afternoon my mind gets to thinking

treadmill tunes my heart is sinking

time to start, hardest part

hardest part is always the beginning

down by three, it's the seventh inning

day is dawning, it's dawning on me

fruit is rotten in the family tree

night is falling, it's landing on me

bats are squalling in my belfry

sun goes down, different town

different woman, I look up to see her 

different me as a face in the mirror

M@  1994

Darlene

She got a scooped-out hood, a 4-barrel carburetor

got high-octane and a stuck accelerator

Spandex bra ridin' halogen heads

she run the needle to the red, you're just a rock between the treads

Darlene

Why do you do the things you do?

Darlene

My ass is tired of chasing you

You gonna rip up all the road the way you runnin' that thing

you make a clunky pile-of-junky old jalopy start to sing, Darlene

She got big fat tires, hot distributor wires

she got a hemi semi jack-and-jimmy super heavy-duty tranny

leave you at the light like granny, starin' at that fine fine fanny

taillights disappearin', don't you wish that you were steerin'?

Darlene

Why do you got to be so tough?

Darlene

My V-8 engine ain't enough.

She put the pedal to the floor, you hear the muffler start to roar

and the she's servin' up the dust and then she's blowin' off your doors, Darlene.

Well, the lights are burnin' down the tree:

red, red, red, green!

I gave it all I had but I was smoked and I was screened

I tried to catch up with Darlene, she wasn't playin' my game

She want a one-ton man, I got a quarter-ton frame!

Darlene

Why do you do the things you do?

Darlene

My ass is tired of chasing you

you gonna rip up all the road the way you runnin' that thing

you make a clunky, pile-of-junky old jalopy start to sing, Darlene

M@ 2004