Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (Live)

The ragman 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 they furnish me with tape
And 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

Shakespeare, he's in the alley with his pointed shoes and bells
Speaking to some French girl who says she knows me well
Me, I send her a message to find out if she's talked
But the post office has been stolen and the mailbox 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, "Stay away from the train line"
Said that all the railroad men just drink up your blood like wine
And I said, I didn't know that, but then again, there's only one I've met
And he just smoked my eyelids and 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, now he's buried in the rocks
Everybody still talks about how badly they were shocked
But me, I expected it to happen, I knew he'd lost control
When he'd 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
Me, I nearly got busted and wouldn't it be my luck
To get caught without a ticket and be discovered beneath a truck

Oh, mama, can this really 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 20 pounds of headlines stapled to his chest
And he cursed me when I proved to him
Then I whispered, said, "Not even you can hide
You see, you're just like me, I hope you're satisfied"

Oh, mama, can this really be the end?
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

Rainman gave me two cures and he said, "Jump right in"
One was Texas medicine and the other was just railroad gin
Like a fool I mixed them and I tangled up my mind
Now people just get uglier and 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

Now Ruthie says come see her in her honky-tonk lagoon
Where we all watch her waltz for free 'neath her Panamanian moon
And I say, "Aw, come on now, you know about my debutante"
Your debutante knows 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, they 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 these things twice

Oh, mama, can this really the end?
To be stuck here inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again, ooh