The Ballad of Josie
Jerk Off Blues
Woke up this morning with black clouds in my head. (repeat)
up came the worst day I ever had.
Empty bottle on my table and other two beneath my bed. (repeat)
I got a mouthful of vomit, oh how I wished I was dead.
my baby quit me, never told the reason why. (repeat)
so i got me an old 44, 'cause I was fixing to die.
Drove my Chevy to Memphis to meet the old bastard there. (repeat)
I got a bottle full of bourbon and a grief that's hard to bear.
Found this jerk-off with some bitch in bed. (repeat)
I threw that gun and shot her in the head.
Police got me and put me in jail. (repeat)
They'll get me 99 or send me to hell.
She Shot My Lover Down
I lay with my girlfriend in a cheap motel's bed.
The evening sky had just turned crimson red.
The door swung open and my wife came in,
stinking of rye and bourbon and gin
and she shot my lover down,
she shot my lover down.
As she passed away she happened to say:
"Save a smile, keep writing rhymes now and again!"
god fuck you all. damn! my life now is worse than then.
Blood on the pillow, blood on my side. The dusk just turned into pitch-black night.
How can I get this out of my head. I'll go insane, it'll make me mad.
she shot my lover down, she (2nd time: bessie) shot my lover down.
as she (2nd time: josie) passed away she happened to say:
"save a smile, keep writing rhymes now and again."
God fuck you all. Damn! My life now is worse than then.
Black As A Raven
I met my man in Tennessee.
This guy was cute as a man can be with eyes shining black as a raven.
they called him Willie but his name was Joe, I swear to God I loved him so
and his hair shining black as a raven.
He played the guitar, sang the Blues,
wrote poems 'bout Jack Frost and booze and his skin was as black as a raven.
He dealt in drugs, was rolling dice, he lost it all, I paid the price
while his heart got black as a raven.
For me he wrote most lovely songs,
then broke my heart and did me wrong 'cause his soul was as black as a raven.
I couldn't stand all that bad news, was in despair, fell for the booze,
since he left me as black as a raven.
Poor Little Josephine
Poor little Josephine got sparkling eyes of bluish green.
she fell in love with young Eugene at the tender age of thirteen.
He had just moved from Coeur d’Alene, son of notorious judge Dufrêne.
He was white and she quite green at the tender age of fourteen.
Poor little Josephine: he treated her like a trampoline,
then quit her in an ugly scene at her tender age of fifteen.
She was the cutest thing you’ve seen but fell for drugs because of him,
became a hooker, felt so mean at the tender age of sixteen.
Poor little Josie tried to wean herself from heroin
but she never managed to get clean at the age of seventeen.
Poor little Josephine, better known as memphis queen
died on the eve of halloween at the age of eighteen.
Bastards
Once upon a time there lived a "negro" in Shelby County
who ran a small convenience store.
He worked hard to pull through,
finally managed it and found himself a nice brown skin girl.
Everything seemed to go well.
She was a singer in the local gospel choir
the St. Augustine catholic church choir, I guess.
They got married.
Soon afterwards, as she walked home from a rehearsal,
she got mugged by a gang of four or five white rowdies,
perhaps clansmen, I don’t know.
They raped her, beat her and nearly kicked her to death.
She only could describe the bluish green eyes of one of her torturers –
nothing else, because they all were masked.
Well, she got pregnant
but suffered badly from her inner injuries and died in childbirth.
Her lovely daughter Josephine survived.
Meanwhile the leader of the pack of rowdies decided to disappear.
Some say, that he, his wife and his two little sons moved up to Idaho.
His family didn’t seem to know what he had done.
He never was accused of something and later studied criminal law
at the Boise State University.
But that’s just something from the gossip factory.
Josie’s father lived in deep despair, couldn’t love his wife’s daughter,
became a mean old drunkard, beat the little girl
and Josie never was allowed to find out what love is.
Who cared? She only was a "nigger bastard".
Ooh Baby, Ooh!
Josie met Joe – that’s the man they called Willie –
downtown Memphis Tennessee. (repeat)
She had cold turkey and he was a pimp,
she looked quite dirty and his hair was primped.
Ooh Baby, ooh!
"Give me some bread, please give me some dough."
That’s what Josie said to Joe. (repeat)
Willie said: "I’ll care for you,
I like your eyes of greenish blue."
ooh baby, ooh!
"I got some pennies to get you out of this."
That’s what smart Willie said. (repeat)
"You just have to be on the game for me,
I’ll give you shelter, so leave it all to me."
ooh baby, ooh!
Willie made a promise to tell the truth
forever and a day. (repeat)
He really fell for Josie’s eyes.
To get her clean he’d paid any price.
ooh baby, ooh!
Josie said to joe: "I love you so
but I beg you to leave your wife." (repeat)
He agreed, made Josie his bride,
but good luck was not on their side.
ooh baby, ooh!
Funeral
So this is my funeral. Now I can see with Willie’s eyes:
I ’m in his head, I’m in his heart. He'll never tell me no more lies.
Not many people at my grave: Some freezing junkies, a few freaks
and all in all an all-day rave.
So this is my funeral. A rainy cold november day.
A shaky priest with unctuous words. It all looks like a beckett play.
So there’s Eugene, surprise, surprise, why did you break my lonely heart?
Were you the monster in disguise?
So this is my funeral. How come? now i’m in Eugene’s head!
So I can make him think of me and I can make him feel so bad.
It’s fun to talk through eugene’s mouth. “Hey Willie, you fine specimen
of black male slave from good old south!”
So this is my funeral.
The Scales Fell From My Eyes
When I was just a baby boy my family moved up to the north
and now that i am 23, I seem to see the truth come forth.
My father then was on the run for something bad that he had done.
When I was ten my mother died, well, she committed suicide,
she all found out about my dad like I do now. The truth's ahead.
The scales fell from my eyes.
As I grew up to 17 we all moved back to tennessee.
I fell in love with josephine, a girl as cute as a girl can be.
she was a green-eyed black skin miss with shining deep brown wavy hair,
ungracious dad immediately forbade any contact with her..
I never knew the reason why but now I feel this great big lie.
The scales fell from my eyes.
The funeral oration held by this young pale and shaky priest
could clear up nearly everything. I hardly can imagine that
my sister’s name was josephine. How come I never realized
that Josie had my father’s eyes. How come a rapist like my dad
who’s answer always was a fudge can live as well known worthy judge?
The scales fell from my eyes.
Josie From Beyond
Here's Josie from the world beyond.
You know, I'm in my lover's head,
I want to cause my lover's death.
I want to make his heart respond
to all my pain. He caused me grief.
I’ll make him feel the way I did
when he had his farewell to bid
and left me like a thief.
I’ll let him take a long sad walk
to places, that we both preferred,
remind him of Nick Cave’s "Blue Bird"
that hits him like a tomahawk.
I’ll let him stand upon that bridge,
I’ll let the river speak to him:
“Come make your home with me, Eugene
and I will stop your itch.”
Here's Josie from the world beyond.,
I’ve been there in my lover's head,
I surely caused my lover's death.
I surely made his heart respond
to all my pain. he caused me grief.
I made him feel the way did
when he had his farewell to bid
and left me like a thief.
Bad News
The Daily Helmsman reported the following in its police beat:
police answered an emergency call on Christmas eve.
The body of a young male was found at the banks of the Mississippi
near Tom Lee Park in Memphis Tennessee.
It turned out that the young fellow was the elder son
of the well known judge Dufrêne, born in Shelby County,
who has lived in Idaho for several years
and returned to Memphis some years ago.
it’s only an assumption that 23 years old Eugene Dufrêne
committed suicide by jumping off the Harahan Bridge.
In case of an accident he had no chance because of the cold weather:
The thermometer indicated 15° f during the last night.
Graffiti were found on the wall of the granite bunker
carved high into the river bluff on the eastern end of the Harahan and Frisco bridges,
that reads “Eugene loves Josie” and “we’ll unite in a world beyond”.
Therefor it’s supposed that he ended his life for woman.
Judge Dufrêne now lost his whole family: Four years ago his second born
blew his mind out in a car at the age of 18, filled up with alcohol.
He did not notice that the lights had changed.
Long time before his wife committed suicide.
In a farewell letter she wrote that she could not stand
the past of her husband any longer.
“How does it feel to be on you own, judge Dufrêne?”
(It’s me: Josie, in your head!)
Bess Is In The Jailhouse
Bess is in the jailhouse, she’s put behind bars.
she’s feeling like a field mouse that suffers from cat’s scars.
bess is in detention awaiting trial,
she’s the centre of attention and she’s in denial.
Prisoners tell stories about this and that.
Like tiny sharp splinters they go down in Bessie’s head.
She puts the parts together before her mind’s eye.
Now she knows better which no one can deny
On the 19th of March Joe files a petition of divorce.
He tells in bessie’s face without any remorse.
But Bess gets lots of things to report to her man
about Josie and Eugene and their father judge dufrêne.
Revenge
Willie's full of rage and hate, now he knows 'bout Josie's fate.
It seems that he can hardly wait to hit with all his force.
He's full of rage and hate, he knows 'bout josie's fate.
It seems that he can't wait to hit with all his force.
His heart's on fire, he wants to hire a couple of aids infected gay
downtown memphis nigger junkies to rape this mother fucking
bastard judge Dufrêne: It's like a pulp fiction scene!
But ideas of that kind use to stay in one's mind
and that's the clue, they'll not come true.
Fuck you, fuck you and fuck U2.
Willie plays the blues like hell and he's rolling dice as well,
he got lots of drugs to sell and some pretty whores.
gnas traehfeeb niatpac taht
mih tuob' gnos a etorw appaz knarf
nam suomaf a won s'eilliw
So What?
Judge Dufrêne joins the Republican Party,
runs for governor of Tennessee,
later gets President of the USA,
wins again the election
and a couple of wars against the evil,
brings Cuba back to the land of the brave,
outlaws homosexual marriages,
abortion and even contraceptives.
And so on and on.
He dies in blessed age
with the benediction of the catholic church
and of course gets a state funeral.
Mount Rushmore shows another president's head,
next to Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt
Dufrêne now looks down on us.
So what?