Mexicali Blues - Grateful Dead

Laid back in an old saloon with a peso in my hand

Watching flies and children on the street

And I catch a glimpse of black-eyed girls who giggle when I smile

There’s a little boy who wants to shine my feet

And it’s three days ride from Bakersfield and I don’t know why I came

I guess I came to keep from paying dues

So instead I’ve got a bottle and a girl who’s just fourteen

And a damn good case of the Mexicali Blues, yeah

Is there anything a man don’t stand to lose

When the devil wants to take it all away?

Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip on your booze

'Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today

She said her name was Billie Jean and she was fresh in town

I didn’t know a stage line ran from Hell

She had raven hair, a ruffled dress, a necklace made of gold

All the French perfume you’d care to smell

She took me up into her room and whispered in my ear

«Go on, my friend, do anything you choose»

Now I’m payin' for those happy hours I spent there in her arms

With a lifetime’s worth of the Mexicali Blues, yeah

Is there anything a man don’t stand to lose

When the devil wants to take it all away?

Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip on your booze

'Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today

And then a man rode into town, some thought he was the law

Billie Jean was waiting when he came

She told me he would take her if I didn’t use my gun

But I’d have no one but myself to blame

I went down to those dusty streets, blood was on my mind

I guess that stranger hadn’t heard the news

'Cause I shot first and killed him, Lord, he didn’t even draw

And he made me trade the gallows for the Mexicali Blues, yeah

Is there anything a man don’t stand to lose

When he lets a woman hold him in her hands?

You just might find yourself out there on horseback in the dark

Just riding and running across those desert sands

Hey, uh, for all you «Alligator» fans out there, we’ve done — ah, ah, right,

we understand there’s a lot of «Alligator» fans but we done forgot it, see.

And so, uh, we’re gonna have to remember it sometime later, you know?

Does that make any sense?

Thanks, I needed that