"DOWN AT THE LIQUOR STORE"
Down, down, down
Down at the liquor store
Shorty used to sweep the floor
Chew to death that cheap cigar
Walk your whiskey to the car
He'd dust off every bottle
Until every one shined
I still recall his small bald head
And his big white buck shot knife
Johnny Lee was shorty's wife
She'd raised me most my life
So proudly kept and cleaned the house
In that store bought cotton blouse
Dipped bitter-garret snuff
Sang about Jesus' love
Tap her feet to my guitar
Out of time just like I was
She'd stop by the liquor store
Every afternoon a quarter of four
Totin' her pocket book and fred dollar store sack
A quart of Coke a Schiltz six pack
Give her Shorty one of those Johnny Lee looks
Say, hmm... I am headed home to cook
For your umpteen kids in my section eight house
I hear Junebug's gettin' outta jail
As tears & tobacco drippin' off her mouth
For some wild irish rose and a filter king kool
Sonny boy would play the blues
Behind the liquor store he'd sing
So much hurt spillin' out of those strings
Eye's stained cateracts
A heart full of heart attacks
His mansion made of shotgun shack
Nearly ninety years of not looking back
Uncle Shan he ran the place
Thick glasses graced his face
Behind the counter sat his bowling ball
Monday nights we'd watch football
Took the 38 below the cash register drawer
And one last stroll to the back of the store
Sounded like a bottle fell
Guess he was just too sad to ever tell
Shorty said, "Mr. Joe come quick
Lord, look what mister shan done did"
Daddy held his baby brother to his broke chest
While big brother joe cleaned up the mess
The jigger & jug the scars the history
And first legal liquor joint in Mississippi
Now stands one of them landmark signs
Where you can get a tattoo
Instead of your wine
Down, down, down
Down at the liquor store
Shorty used to sweep the floor
Chew to death that cheap cigar
And walk your whiskey to the car