Cow Fish Fowl or Pig (2002)

My Name is Jorge
Roll & Tumble
1st in Line
Foggy Blossom (Mechanical Bride)
The Bridge
Ants on the Melon (With Due Regards to Virginia Adair)
Hellhounds
Blankets
Bottle & a Dime
Right in the Head
Ham-Fisted Box of Gloves
The Prayer That Fell Upon the Mirror
Best of Me
Sweet Nutty
Ceiling’s Leaking
Smoke Bend

Label: Sugar Hill

Release Date: September 17, 2002
Duration: 01:00:14
Recording Date:1999
Recording Location: Little Rock, Arkansas; Wire Recording, Austin, TX

Credits

My Name is Jorge

Jimmy Smith

My name is Jorge and I twist and I juke

I roll into town with my wagon of fruit

I’ll sell you an apple

I’ll sell you an orange

And what you do with it ain’t of my concerns

I once sold me an apple to William S. Burroughs

He shot up his dope, his Wine sap, his girl

And I sold me a lemon to Henry S. Ford

But he brought it back, I said, all sales are final

And I sold me a plum to a man who makes pies

Jack stuck in his thumb, oh what a surprise

And I sold sugar cane to Harvey Oswald

And he didn’t shoot Johnny but I think he’s involved

Yeah, I sold the cherries

I sold the pits

Them girls gettin’ married, them girls havin’ kids

And I won an award for a melon I growed

So I fixed up the wagon to vend a new load

But I won’t sell no flowers no that ain’t my gig

And I won’t sell no cow, fish, fowl or pig

But I’ll sell a bucket of peaches to Prine

‘Cept he’s got his own tree so he ain’t shakin’ mine

Once sold me a pear to Muhammed Ali

But I called him Clay so he punched me out

Now I’m punch drunk and my wagon’s ka-poot

Said my name is Jorge and I twist and I juke

He roll into town with a wagon of fruit

Roll & Tumble

Kevin Russell

Salt in the sorrow and the sugar blooms

Consign yer bags to the hand of doom

Slick as death the velvet pistol starts

Like fat blood in a dying swimmer’s heart

Roll and tumble and lose yer tunes

Life is a junker and a waiting room

Mercy be nimble and grace be slow

Juvenile walk lonesome and talk as low

Low as the fog and the dogs and grass

Weed out yer broken and stay in last

Hands of the sunshine are the hands of gold

Feet in the clay and yer feeling old

Put on yer muddy boots and walk out in the yard

So many things to bury but the ground is hard

Live like a racoon stay up all night

Bind yer worries smokin’ and ya hold ’em tight

Roll and tumble and lose yer tunes

Life is a junker and a waiting room

Mercy be nimble and grace rush in

The beginning you bury and you keep the end

1st in Line

Max Johnston

Underneath the skies unbroken ground

Side by side a walkin’ ’til we’ve found

All the weary angels that we know

There’s nothin’ in this world like goin’ home

No one on the road gets left behind

Every single one is first in line

Ain’t no waitin’ on no bus no rail

Ain’t no sittin’ down at the county jail

Don’t you wait around for them to call

Don’t you tarry ’round brother don’t you stall

When she comes and goes she’s gone again

Followin’ me there you can’t help but win

Help but win

Followin’ me there you can’t help but win

Paved by the ones before us went

To the soothin’ sound of the sacrament

We lose our burdens soft and low

For Joshua, Judas and Jericho

Underneath the skies unbroken ground

Side by side a walkin’ ’til we’ve found

No one on the road gets left behind

Every single one is first in line

Foggy Blossom (Mechanical Bride)

Kevin Russell

Bi-cycles are everywhere

Fishbones a dollar, a natural pair

Mother of sorrows growing her hairs

The foggy blossoms ain’t goin’ no where

Blackberries on the belly they rot

Semen sailin’ the Hungarian knot

Yella onions weepy and hot

Widow’s moons in the sugary pot

Texas tinys they never thought

The rotation or the ring 01 the rock

Could make the women wantingly mock

The prohibition on cursing the cock

While the temple was under construction

It came down that there was corruption

The lord told’ em detailed instructions

How to build a wagon 01 destruction

Said the apple to the snake

Yer erotic forks are fake

Said the goose to the jailer

Yer religious awe’s a failure

Said the spider to the candle

Yer bride is mechanical

Monochromes strummin’ their bones

Yella bikes high tail it on home

Shoelaces lor the superdome

Gots t’ take it to the house

When yer in the red zone

Foggy blossom, mechanical bride

Crocodile eyes open wide

Wild ass sleeps on his side

And he’ll eat anything as long as it’s fried

The Bridge

Jimmy Smith

Who else is gonna carry you across

Who’s gonna make the delivery

And why am I always burning

You know the first bridge was a fallen tree

So go on and do likewise ladies

Cross with some confidence

You gotta sit and wait while I’m drunk

Or you’re gonna wind up in the drink

If the billygoat was Bootsy

And the troll was Maceo

Only the godfather of soul

Can really take you to the bridge

Yeah, but you can’t throw it in

Your typewriter, hand glider, shifty mobster and amplifier

Yeah, but you can’t throw in

Your golf clubs and bowling balls, gas heaters and bald tires

Yeah, but you can’t throw it in

Microwaves and old pill bottles, video tapes with porno on them

Yeah, but you can’t throw it in

Old birdcages and lame weed eaters, murder weapons and blown speakers

Yeah, but you can’t throw it in

Who else is gonna carry you across

Who’s gonna make the delivery

Ants on the Melon (With Due Regards to Virginia Adair)

Kevin Russell

I do declare and I do swear down to the soles of my shoes

My grass is green as the trees in spring and the sky is blue

Ants are crawlin’ around the melon

The melon spiked with gin

I swear I swear I do declare

Gonna have a slice of melon again

I’m gonna fry me some chicken, baby

Fry me up some chickens tonight

Mash taters and butter and all the other

We gonna do it up right

I wanna see you naked, baby

See yer titties sittin’ up high

Mash taters and butter and all the other

We gonna do it up right

I’m gonna put down my old brown cow

Gonna put down my brown cow

She was hurt when we was workin’

Gonna put down my brown cow

Load me up my ol’ 22

Put the gun to her head

I pulled the trigger, just like I figger’d

Old brown cow was dead

Hellhounds

Jimmy Smith

As I walk the length of your broken fence

I cannot help but look inside

‘Til someone hollers hey don’t you pry

And I’m standing at the gate

No go and get you derelict or I’ll sick my hounds on you

So I took off without mouthing off

Down the road to the State Fair

Now I see chickens, I see hens, I see the prized blue ribbon bird

But she ain’t mine, mine placed third

Down at our State Fair

Now the State Fair has that carnie feel and it’s smelling like my livestock barn

And the bearded lady’s nice to me

We have cocktails in her trailer

Take it

Now her boyfriend he’s the beanbag man

He’s jealous as all hell you see

He caught me in her ole Airstreamer

Yes but, I ain’t no home wrecker

On the way back home I pass again

The broken fence and I’m standing at the gate

I said buddy why don’t you mend it

And he let his hell hounds loose

Max Johnston

Blankets

A long goodbye is comin’ on

Just one more sun and I’ll be gone

The roads will wind

And tracks will sing

‘Til winter’s moans turns into spring

And in the spring I brought you roses

And in the summer for you gold

And in the fall a blanket’s warmin’

For in the winter to unfold

The long steel rails and short cross ties

Sing me back home like lullabies

And as I make my way back home again

I find no one to let me in

Bottle & a Dime

Kevin Russell

We was kickin’ and a pushin’

And old fashioned ass whuppin’

But we never intended to hurt anyone

We was doin’ just fine with a bottle & a dime

Scrap fer taste a wine

Bottle and a dime

Throttle and shine fer a bottle and a dime

Scrap fer taste a wine

Bottle and a dime

Throttle and shine fer a bottle and a dime

Make a model fer the crime

Bottle and a dime … It’s awright

Just that way

I had to go home and pray

They found me on the ledge

Cuz I flew from the coup

Throttle and shine fer a bottle and a dime

Make a model fer the crime

Bottle and a dime … It’s awright

Right in the Head

Jimmy Smith

If you don’t pay me back forget it

I won’t track you down

You have no debt

You already paid out yer mouth

I’m crawling in time

Give me back my wig

The brewer’s yeast ferments and forgives all that you did

Mean while my motor drinks a quart of oil

That’s what keeps her clean and on the road

Here’s hoping yer trip is swift

What’s the hurry, don’t go

I’m happy to hear she ain’t turnin’ tricks no more

No she’s turnin’ over just fine

It’s a new cellanoid

And we heard you spent some time in Escondido

No, someone fed you a line

I was just sleeping

And I always believed that more time should be spent in bed

And whoever said sleep is a thief just ain’t right in the head

Ham-Fisted Box of Gloves

Kevin Russell

O Suzanna, please radio to the tower it’s time to go

To the furthest reaches of the ham-fisted box of gloves

O Delilah, please endure the white haired ape’s allure

His long distance roots are sound, since he sold his weapons to the crown

Please get yer hats off of my bed

Or I’ll wake up in the morning wed

To the emerging majority

Facing a stark presidency

O saliva, please withdraw from the tribunal cat calls

The bare the hallmark of guilty film

Projected badly, up on the hill

Please get yer hats off of my bed

Or I’ll wake up in the morning wed

To the emerging majority

Facing a stark presidency

O Lashonda, help the ugly ones purchase proper their vintage guns

Fly the flannel and put the dove in the ham-fisted box of gloves

The Prayer That Fell Upon the Mirror

Jimmy Smith

The talk of chocolate covered wingspans

Was suspicious in the sunlight

The talk of wisdom in the bargain

Made me want to keep it for myself

The woman beating on her weak man

She kept on beating on her weak man

The talk of giving up the feather

Was drowned out by the jet plane

The prayer that fell upon the mirror

Was held up to the sun

The sound of desperate quiet moonbeams

Was earth bound

The sound was sweet and forever

Would be kept from the world’s ears

I let it die upon the black dirt

Of the best things that I’ve done

Best of Me

Max Johnston

A new present that’s in

Wrapping paper that’s in

Another bag within

A box headed for me

With love all over the floor

And up against the door

How could a man be poor

With you to keep him warm

Honey did you think

That you’d got the best of me

I think I’ll sit here

‘Til that angel falls from the tree

The tree leans to the right

Still usin’ candles for lights

Dressed up in baubles and rings

And other fine things

But in a day or two

Out on the curb with you

We’ll both be wearin’ a frown

It happens all over town

Pines and needles refer

To resolutions that were

Made way back in the year

You’ll tide me over for sure

Sweet Nutty

Kevin Russell

Sweet nutty joined the band

Sweet nutty come from ocalala

Hair down to his knees

Make the stones talk, make a cripple man walk

Make the thunder and the lightning freeze

Sweet nutty joined the band

He woke up one morning

Waiting for the FBI

Heard he got turned in by some long haired friend

For drivin’ camels through a needle’s eye

Sweet nutty joined the band

When he fell off of that mountain

Ain’t said a word for eleven years

Climbed up a tree, killed eleven mockingbirds

Put their songs in a satchel full of tears

Sweet nutty joined the band

Ceilin’s Leakin’

Jimmy Smith

Oh my ceilin’s leakin’

And the peeper’s peekin’

It’s prolly someone I know

I booby trap the window

Can’t get a hold of my landlord

I watch the mold grow It’s on the tip of everybody’s tongue

The lion sleeps the monkey has fun

I watch the candidate run

I watch the floodgate open

You can’t sell it if you can’t smell it

You know kickin’ with odor

Out from under everybody’s nose

You pull the wool over everybody’s eyes

Oh what flight you on

I don’t know I get off and I kiss the ground

Can I have a moment of

Where my deep green river

Flows

A step ahead of my Beezle-bub

It’s on the tip of everybody’s tongue

The lion sleeps the monkey has fun

Smoke Bend

Dollar Bill Johnston

CHORUS:

Now it’s winter on the river

And a cold swift swollen tide

Meets a warm southern breeze

From the gulf of memories

Missouri and clear Ohio

Give their currents to the tide

Now the river’s Louisiana’s

For the willow tree-lined ride

From cruel Angola down to Venice

Scatterin’ horseshoes everywhere

The river’s Louisiana’s

With no glory or bank to share

If the river had its way

The Atchafalaya’d be its home

Straighten out them horseshoes

Find another bank to roam

There’s cane fires up the bank

Of that horseshoe of Smoke Bend

The smoke was double thick

And the fog was rollin’ in

Tie your boat to a willow tree

Climb the bank so high

Above the blanket on the river

See every star in the sky

Smoke fog and family

Kept to that west bank town

Smoke and fog would burn and blow away

The folks they’d stay around

There was catfish with the Kingfish

And a culture spice gumbo

There’s coonass music playing

On a glowin’ radio

Klan and crackers on the side

At the Last Chance Cafe

Crawfish etouffee

Warm red river Beaujolais

CHORUS

They’re sandbaggin’ the levee

They’re shovelin’ night and day

It’s the year of ’27

Gonna wash us all away

The levee gonna bust

On your side or mine

A little dynamite on your side

Help the river make its mind

Folks left that west bank town

Left it all behind

Start life on higher ground

Gonna get out just in time

Now there’s mint juleps at Oak Alley

There’s poison in the air

There’s new dangers on the river

It’s so good to be from there