1. BABY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SHOES

 BY JOE ELY

All my people need food and water

And Baby needs a new pair of shoes

July sun gettin' hotter and hotter

And Baby needs a new pair of shoes

I went to the courthouse to speak my mind

They told me to stand in a long long line

All of my people need freedom and grace

Baby needs a new pair of shoes

July sun shinin' in my face

Baby needs a new pair of shoes

I wanna talk to the people who run this town

I'm gettin' tired of this merry-go-round

All of my people need common respect

Baby needs a new pair of shoes

July sun burning down my neck

And Baby needs a new pair of shoes

All I wanna do is to get back home

Instead of wastin' away at this Superdome

All of my people need food and water

And Baby needs a new pair of shoes

July sun gettin' hotter and hotter

And Baby needs a new pair of shoes

All of my people need freedom and grace

Baby needs a new pair of shoes

July sun shinin' in my face

Baby needs a new pair of shoes

All of my people need

All of my people need

All of my people need

All of my people need

You got to pass it around

Pass it around

2. SUE ME SUE

BY JOE ELY

Well you don't need a lawyer

You don't need a judge

You don't need no Race Horse Haynes

To Prosecute my love

Sue me

Sue me, Sue

Come on now sue me

Sue me, Sue

If my love won't do

Then, sue me Sue

Well you don't need a henchman

You don't need a Grudge

You don't need a hangman

To hang a Sentence on my love

Come on sue me

Sue me, Sue

Sue me

Sue me, Sue

If my love won't do

Then, sue me Sue

Well you don't need no evidence

You don't need a glove

You don't need no smokin' gun

To Vindicate my love

Come on and sue me

Sue me, Sue

Come on and sue me

Sue me, Sue

If my love won't do

Then, sue me Sue

You can't buy a witness

You can't buy the judge

You can't buy a private-eye

To postulate my grudge

Come on and sue me

Sue me, Sue

Come on and sue me

Sue me, Sue

If my love won't do

Then, sue me Sue

Come on now sue me

Sue me, Sue

Come on now sue me

Sue me, Sue

If my love won't do

Come on and sue me

Come on now sue me

Sue me, Sue

Come on now sue me

Sue me, Sue

If my love won't do

Then, sue me Sue

3.HARD LUCK SAINT 

BY JOE ELY

He said he discovered America with nothin' but a paper sack

The first sight he remembered was the Statue of Liberty's back

He lost his mama on the Brooklyn street when he was just thirteen

He made his way out west, he'd seen some pictures in a magazine

He worked a while as a roughneck in the Floydada Black Oil fields

And the Fat Oilmen of Texas would watch him a-tap his heels

As the oil poured in and the cotton grew and the Cadillacs fell like rain

He did the work of a dozen men and never did complain
If you added up his troubles they'd fill the prairie sky

But he lived more in an hour than most men in their lives

He never preached a sermon and an angel he ain't

But anyone can tell you he's a Hard Luck Saint

He worked his way to a cotton town down Highway 84

And that is where I met him in a used clothing store
With my mama and my papa, little Mark and Muleshoe Bill

I still remember tearstains on a dusty window sill

If you added up his troubles they'd fill the prairie sky

But he lived more in an hour than most men in their lives

He never preached a sermon and an angel he ain't

But anyone can tell you he's a Hard Luck Saint

He never stayed around long but he never said 'goodbye'

No tellin' where he went to, he walked a rugged mile

He might just pass through your town one of these a-hard luck days

And pass right through to the other side goin' his hard luck ways

If you added up his troubles they'd fill the prairie sky

He lived more in an hour than most men in their lives

He never preached a sermon and an angel he ain't

But anyone can tell you he's a Hard Luck Saint

4. JESSE JUSTICE

by Joe Ely

Well Jesse was a rovin' gambler

Nine ball was his game

He kept one step out ahead of his Rep

One town out ahead of his fame

I think I mighta seen him in Clovis

But the place was kinda loud

Even so, it was a long time ago

When my head sorta stayed in a cloud

There's a lotta green in the city

That you can't cut thick or thin

There's a lot of green between fat and lean

That you might never see again, Oh, Jesse

You might never see again

Well I KNOW I saw him in Shreveport

The time this song's about

I was hangin' in town 'cause the river was down

Like my sister I was sweatin' the drought

He was playin' some kid from Dallas

Who could out talk a freeway cop

A day and a half they'd been on a raft

Tryin' to play till the other would drop

There's a lotta green in the city

That you can't cut thick or thin

There's a lot of green between fat and lean

That you might never see again, Oh, Jesse

You might never see again

Carmen wore a red silk dress

She lean'd beside the coke machine

She must have been the prize that was in his eyes

It was as clear as gasoline

Twenty seven hundred on the table

Another twenty five in the dark

Dallas was talkin' up a blue streak

As Jesse reached for the chalk

The room got deathly quiet

The newsboy shut his mouth

The cold north wind changed it's mind again

And blew lazy from the south

The whippoorwills quit singin'

Not even the judge did laugh

When Jesse Justice chalked his saber

And sliced the 9 in half

There's a lotta green in the city

That you can't cut thick or thin

There's a lot of green between fat and lean

That you might never see again, Oh, Jesse

You might never see again

5. MISS BONNIE AND MISTER CLYDE

BY JOE ELY

I was mindin' my own business down on Deep Elum Street

The sun was comin' up and the birds was singin' sweet

When a car come around the corner, long and lean and brown

Pulls up to the curb beside me and rolls their window down

A man throws me a dollar and I asked him what's that for

A pack of Luckies and a Paper over at the corner store

I peer into the window there's a man and a woman inside

Holy Jumpin' Bolts of Lightnin' it's Miss Bonnie and Mr. Clyde

I made a joke about Lucky Strikes that I never should've used

Their patience was proportional to the shortness of their fuse

Bonnie's pretty little trigger finger was twitchin' by her side

And Clyde was cleanin' his fingernails with a foot long Bowie Knife

I brung 'em back the Cigarettes and the Dallas Mornin' Sun

I told 'em they made the papers front page and column one

Ah, we don't need no smart-assed kid actin' as our guide

Now just run along like you never seen, Miss Bonnie and Mr. Clyde

Excuse me sir I says to him, but I thought you was a business guy

I might have a little proposition that just might catch your eye

The biggest haul of Fort Knox Gold they're a'haulin back tonight

And loadin' it up in an Armored Car at the crack of the mornin' light

Bonnie grabbed me by the belt loop and pulled me in the car

And Clyde held a saw'd-off to my head and lit me a big cigar

If you're on the level then we might just be partners on the side

But don't even think about double crossin' Miss Bonnie and Mr. Clyde

Within a week I'd been transformed from a beggar to a wanted man

The dreams I'd had of a glamorous life were now, oh so close at hand

Bonnie kept makin' eyes at me, it was hard to look away

She looked like an innocent country girl who had somehow gone astray

Clyde once imagined he was Robin Hood but now his greed was startin' to show

Instead of spreading the wealth around he was Wallerin' in the Dough

And when he started slappin' Bonnie around something went off in me inside, I said,

If you keep slappin' Bonnie around, I'm gonna have your hide! Clyde!

Clyde would've shot me then and there if he wasn't so sluggin' drunk

'Bout the time he raised his shootin' iron he passed out on his trunk

Me and Bonnie made our break, in Clyde's Caddilac De Ville

Bonnie was already on my lap as we flew thru Louisville

We got married in Niagra Falls, I got a job as a paper man

Within a week the headlines came, showed Clyde on an old divan

Shot full of holes, the both of them, which the paper then Identified

As the love who led him to his grave, Miss Bonnie and Mr. Clyde

We just couldn't believe we got away with a scheme as big as that

We were buying drinks and tossin' scraps to all the dogs and cats

We rented us a barrel that night at the Whiskey Still

And decided to spend our Honeymoon floatin' down Niagra Hill

We made the maddest wettest bumpiest love fallin' down that waterfall

Like a crazy pair of desert doves who had never seen rain fall

The Police lights were blinkin' at our motel room, outside

But We never went back to hear the tale of Miss Bonnie and Mr. Clyde

6. LITTLE BLOSSOM

BY JOE ELY

Hey, Little Blossom, throw on your new blue jeans

I just got my check, won't you hop in my wreck

They're dancin' in Evangeline, oh Little Blossom

Hey, Little Blossom, slide a little closer to me

Tell me tonight, everything is all right

Your love will set me free, oh, Little Blossom

Hey, Hey, Hey Little Blossom

Oh

Hey, Little Blossom the moon is on the rise

Remember our dreams down in New Orleans

When I saw the love in your eyes, oh, Little Blossom

Hey, hey, hey Little Blossom

Oh

Hey, Little Blossom sometimes I've let you down

I hid like a thief, when my heart was in grief

I was lost but now I'm found

Oh, Little Blossom

Hey, Little Blossom close your painted eyes

You can see it as clear, as the moon on the river

It's you I idolize, oh, Little Blossom

Hey, hey, hey Little Blossom

Oh, Little Blossom

Hey, hey, hey Little Blossom

Hey, hey, hey Little Blossom

7.FIREWATER

BY BUTCH HANCOCK

You got drunk last night, You swear you saw the Devil

Don't you know Firewater seeks its own level

Well, life is a cyclone Death is but a breeze

Will you die on feet or will you live on your knees

Your guitar strumming, Wine overflowing

They say you have it coming If you never got it going

You blame it on your baby That your heart was broke in half

Well I can see you've just been crying so you don't have to laugh

There ain't nothing sacred You can beg or steal or borrow

When you're swimming in self-pity You'll be drowning in your sorrow

You got drunk last night, You swear you saw the Devil

Don't you know Firewater seeks its own level

Well your clothes fit fine Your hair looks great

You time you can waste But no time to wait

Your drowning me in the waves of your brain

It ain't love anymore It's just entertainment

If the Devil made you do it Well go for it honey

Just be sure you give him a run for his money

You can kill the bottle There ain't no murder mystery

There's a little bit left but all the rest is natural history

You got drunk last night, You swear you saw the Devil

Don't you know Firewater seeks its own level

Well, perched on your back Was this loud-mouthed vulture

Y'all were talkin back and forth about the counter-counter culture

Smoke was hanging heavy, Everybody had to breathe it

Your hands were on the table but your thoughts were underneath it

Everybody got stoned and when the night was over

The wildest one there was the coldest sober

But you and all the rest Your eyes were getting muddy

Cause the bartender knows he gotta serve somebody

You got drunk last night, You swear you saw the Devil

Don't you know Firewater seeks its own level

8.JULY BLUES

BY JOE ELY

It's too hot for snakes

My cow won't milk

And my bulldog shakes

It's flat tough to watch

Water go down the drain

I wanna love you honey

Down in my domain

Till the cows come home

And the clouds make rain

I got the July blues

My tom cat's in shock

My clock don't tick

And my rock don't rock

It's too damn hot I know

It's bakin' my brain

I wanna love you honey

Down in my domain

When the cows come home

And the clouds make rain

I got the July blues

I got hornets in my hair

My, my baby's suckin' on ice cubes

That ain't even there

She say joe, hey joe how'd you like to have a

A nice cool drink from my spring

I wanna love you honey

Down in my domain

When the cows come home

And the clouds make rain

Damn, it's hot

Too hot to cook

Air conditioned book

Hey sheriff

Where's that posse

9. UP A TREE

BY JOE ELY

They've got him up a tree

He knows he's up a tree

The dogs are showin' teeth

They know he must come down

They know that they can wait

He knows they can wait

He sees their shiny teeth

He cries Lord, help me

Can't you see I'm up a tree

The Lord knows he's up a tree

He watched him climb the tree

He knows he's up a tree

He knows he must come down

He cries Lord, help me

Can't you see I'm up a tree

The Lord knows he's up a tree

He saw him climb the tree

He knows he's up a tree

He knows he must come down

They're circlin 'round the tree

They've got him up a tree

He knows he's up a tree

Someday he must come down

The dogs know they can wait

He knows they can wait

The dogs are showin' teeth

He sees their shiny teeth

He cries Lord, help me

Can't you see I'm up a tree

The Lord knows he's up a tree

He watched him climb the tree

He knows he's up a tree

10.SO YOU WANNA’ BE RICH?

BY JOE ELY

You want the women to swoon

When you walk in the room

And they gaze into your diamond ring

You want the men to stare

As you rant and swear

At the waiter who brought the drinks

So you wanna be rich

You wanna drive big cars

Hang out with the stars

And let 'em know you really care

You wanna pay off cops

Pull out all the stops

And let 'em know you're really there

So you wanna be rich

So you wanna be rich

You wanna show you're thrifty

As you pull out a fifty

Just to light a Hunka Cuban cigar

You want a million dollar shine

Not a drop of wine

On the seat of your Cadillac car

So you wanna be rich

You want friends with power

New ones every hour

Flick 'em off like you would a switch

You want girls with class

With a nice tight ass who never complain or bitch

So you wanna be rich

So you wanna be rich

So you wanna be rich

Like the gangsters on MTV

So you wanna be rich

Like the ones who run the lottery

So you wanna be rich

11.RIVER FEVER 

BY JOE ELY

With some silver tongued bull rider from La Grange

Later that night weren't you down at the Continental

Swinging from the chandeliers and actin' strange

Baby you got it bad

Like everyone I know

Baby you've got it bad

And you don't want to let it go

I got a line on you, you got the river fever

Like a bumblebee buzzin' round a honey comb

I got a line on you, you got the river fever

Too late to skate too early to head for home

You sure looked fine in the beer sign light, baby

Scootin' your boots up and down the Broken Spoke

You shined on me like moonlight on a river

I wanted to talk but the words stuck in my throat

Oh baby you got it bad

Like everyone I know

Baby you've got it bad

And you don't want to let it go

I got a line on you, you got the river fever

Like a bumblebee buzzin' round a honey comb

I got a line on you, you got the river fever

Too late to skate too early to head for home

Don't they say that nightlife makes you crazy

The same ones that say that sex will make you blind

Don't they see the good times make you lazy

When the music plays, the moon will blow your mind

Baby you got it bad

Like everyone I know

Baby you've got it bad

And you don't want to let it go

I got a line on you, you got the river fever

Like a bumblebee buzzin' round a honey comb

I got a line on you, you got the river fever

Too late to skate too early to head for home