Laid back in an old saloon, with a peso in my hand,
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Watchin' flies and children on the street,
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And I catch a glimpse of black-eyed girls who giggle when I smile,
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There's a little boy who wants to shine my feet.
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And it's three days ride from Bakersfield and I don't know why I came.
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I guess I came to keep from payin' dues.
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So instead I've got a bottle and a girl who's just fourteen,
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And a damn good case of the Mexicali Blues. Yeh!
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Is there anything a man don't stand to lose,
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When the devil wants to take it all away?
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Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip on your booze,
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Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today.
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She said her name was Billy Jean and she was fresh in town.
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I didn't know a stage line ran from Hell.
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She had raven hair, a ruffled dress, a necklace made of gold,
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All the French perfume you'd care to smell.
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She took me up into her room and whispered in my ear,
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"Go on, my friend, do anything you choose."
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Now I'm payin' for those happy hours I spent there in her arms,
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With a lifetime's worth of the Mexicali Blues.
|
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Is there anything a man don't stand to lose,
|
When the devil wants to take it all away?
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Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip on your booze
|
Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today.
|
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And then a man rode into town, some thought he was the law.
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Billy Jean was waitin' when he came.
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She told me he would take her, if I didn't use my gun,
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I'd have no one but myself to blame.
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I went down to those dusty streets, blood was on my mind.
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I guess that stranger hadn't heard the news
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Cause I shot first and killed him, Lord, he didn't even draw
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And he made me trade the gallows for the Mexicali Blues.
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Is there anything a man don't stand to lose
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When he lets a woman hold him in her hands?
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He just might find himself out there on horseback in the dark
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Just ridin' and runnin' across those desert sands.
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|
-----------------
|
Mexicali Blues
|
| Grateful Dead |
