Mrs. Deason, after ladies lunch, returns home to fold the clothes and waits for her husband. Mr. Deason returns home to tell his wife the news. Honey, they're everywhere. I don't feel safe driving down the road. They've been here long enough it's time for them to go. I hate to see them go but I’m gonna make them leave. I want these ants off my lawn!" Maria, lost in the city, can't tke the bus. Mr. deason is searching for her to not have her proper papers on board. Mr Deason, a class act, wants to maintain the state of his own affairs. He likes his two story house right where it is. Mrs. deason, at ladys lunch, likes to talk about Mr. Deason and all his big decisions. She says to her friends what her husband says, which is, "We hate to watch them go but we have to make them leave. It's time these ants march home." Santiago, for 25 years, sweated on rooftops, and he still gets butterflies when the cops drive by. He knows his papers are out of order and anyday he might be sent away. His truck breaks down and everyone's brown. The cops pull up. They ask for IDs. Santiago’s paper’s out of sorts, he is handcuffed and taken to Border Patrol, and the cop says to Santiago, "I hate to watch you go, but I love to make you leave. Take care and don't drink the water down there." Maria wonders where Santiago is when her brother calls to break the news. Santiago’s behind bars waitin’ for the trip back home. A decision is made. Another grand decision. Up at the Capital, Mr. Deason's shaking hands. Family values, State and Church, Children are the future, money comes first, and Mr. Deason wants a new home! He says, I hate to watch them go, but I love to make them leave, cuz I’m a big man makin’ big decisions.

The sheets are half-mast and the coffee is burned. A thousand cockroaches now crawl through your walls. You said together we could lay our burdens down. Delilah, with your mannequin hands, you held me and led me your way. I will hold your hand no longer. You led me astray, then you told me to lead, then continuously, you chastised me. Delilah, with your wicked tongue, while layin’ your cards face down, you told me games are fun. Then you cheated on every one. Wax-lipped Delilah, with your plastic smile. Your eyes they ain’t that color and I trust you no longer. You said that together we could conquer our goals, yet I was never let to set my own. So have what you want. I’ll head up the road.

I’m older than my old lady. I weigh more than my ball and chain. I wake up achin’ every mornin’. Lord, when’ll things change? Ohh, won’t someone help me? Cuz I’m feelin’ low, and I don’t know where I oughtta go from here. lord, lord, lord, look at all these beef steaks deep fried turkey legs macaroni and cheese and that sweet tea with plenty of sugar, baby take your lips, don’t touch me lord, lord, lord, guffaw and a quiet praryer, dig in and seconds and that sweet tea with plenty of sugar, baby take your lips, don’t touch me lord, lord, lord, quiet time away from your yackin’ listenin to the woodpecker doin his peckin with some sweet tea with plenty of sugar, baby keep your lips, i don’t even want ‘em lord, lord, lord, well you can pick on me but i got the right to throw back whiskey and blow out your lights but i’ll just have that sweet tea with plenty of sugar, baby take your lips, don’t touch me

Spend your money to get help. Spend your money to get help, because the bank won’t leave you alone. Call me Dead Meat. I’ll just get goin’. Remind me if you will the day it all fell apart, and the hours you spent tellin’ me every way you felt. I’ll just get goin’. Keep your things. It comes down to this. I can’t afford you and I’m sick of all these arguments and accusations. Dead Meat’s worth losin’. Keep your things. The difference is this and this alone. The people you trust, I don’t. And while you think my way is the highway and your way is right, well, there’s no reconcilin’ these differences. I’m droppin’ the rope. I’ve tugged long enough. Don’t fall down. So long, take ‘er easy. I didn’t mean to stick around so long. So long, been good to know ya. Don’t let yer others go so wrong.

I was born in a cold spring underneath a blue moon. The doctor told my family, He don’t got much time before he dies. The winter that followed swallowed my house with me in it. The doctor sat in my livin’ room sayin, You don’t got much time before you die. I was stuck in a wicked flood. Learned quick how t tread water. The doctor paddled beside me sayin, You don’t got much time before you die. A drought followed. Everythin’ was hot. Nothin’ would grow. I had no fare to sell. My best prayer was a wishin’ well, and the doctor stood beside me sayin, You don’t got much time before ya die. The doctor don’t think things go my way. He’s sayin’, You don’t got much time before you die. I say, Hell doc, I’m still alive.

Debbie put a biscuit in the oven, set it to bake, and forgot about the biscuit. Stepped outside for breakfast. Got eaten by an alligator. Sure enough, the biscuit burned. The smoke-filled house began to discolor. A friend stopped by for tea with Debbie. Thought the house was on fire. Afraid to get burned, the friend turned round. Ran up the street to the fire house. Found a group of men and one woman, all willin’ t put out the fire at Debbie’s. Arrivin’ to the house, the smoke billowed from the windows. Four men and one woman broke down the door with fire extinguishers. They sprayed their foam all over the house. The dust was invisible, the house covered in foam. The fire fighters said, You’re welcome, and returned to the fire station. The friend checked the oven t see if the biscuits were ready. Disgusted they were burnt, he went back to his place. The alligator licked his chops, went through the swamp to a big rock, and rested.

I drank whiskey Monday night. Left my baby back home cryin’. How was I t know this is how it’d go? Laid with a stranger by my side. Well, I broke your heart, but I never lied, so how was I t know I was lettin’ ya go? Searchin’ all the wrong places for my pride, I keep headin’ somewhere but can never arrive, and I got scars t show from all these busted roads. And now I drink whiskey all on my own, cuz I always knew you were the one, but fickle hearts are just rotting fruit. Mona always told me I oughtta smile, so I try my best to smile all the while. But somedays I feel low, like a five o’clock shadow. But these are all self-inflicted wounds. Taking scissors to my own party balloons, but we can write this off, just like my smoker’s cough. Now I drink whiskey because you’re gone and I knew when I did it I was in the wrong. But fickle hearst are just rotting fruit.

Jack of Diamonds I have known you too long. You robbed my poor pocket of my silver and my gold. I’ve played cards in basements and I’ve played cards in alleys. I bet you ten dollars I’ll take all o your money with me. I’ve settled more arguments than I ever thought I’d see. When they slapped me with those handcuffs, I turned the other cheek. Jack of Diamonds I have held you in my hand for too long! You can keep your hard-luck greenback. You can keep your hard on ways. If you don’t watch for the Devil, he will steal away with the rest of your days.

I wash my hands. I wash my hands. I wash my hands so every man knows I’m a man he can listen too. Pontius Pilot washed his hands too. The judge judges men. The judge judges men. The judge judges men so other men know who’s a man to trust. The judge will get judged too. And I am free. I am free. I’m free cuz that’s how the good lord made me. Not a single soul can take that away from me.

I never meant to hurt you. I know you never meant to hurt me. So why don’t we speak anymore? We just don’t see eye to eye. Big man, don’t you cry and neither will I. You never know how it goes til it goes, so let’s not judge the paths each other chose. We just don’t see eye to eye, so don’t pass judgement, big guy, and neither will I. All your invested time is not for naught. And all my lack of direction don’t mean I’m lost. Now, I don’t know much about you and of me you only learned through a grapevine. Maybe we can reconcile sometime. We just don’t see eye to eye, oh, but big man, if you try, then so will I. We just don’t see eye to eye, oh but big man if you would try, well, then maybe we might.

Let me just say, I'm a tall tree, but now there's somethin' eatin' me. I had such beautiful leaves, bright and green, but things gone bad with these termites eatin' me. I was ready to bare fruit. It woulda been the sweetest fruit, but it's gone sour with these termites eatin' me. I can't move on account of my roots, buried deep in my boots, I can't get away. My veins ran with sap and that was mighty fine, but now I got veins with lines and lines of all these termites eatin' me. I tell ya, I never shoulda let 'em in for a snack. They're takin' advantage, offerin' nothin' back for the trouble they stir in my stomach and toes, in my legs and my face, in my fingertips and elbows. Please, please, please give me some poison to get rid of the devils, thousands of devils eatin' me inside and out. I can't move on with all these termites eatin' me.

I’m gonna sail into the sky, catch the next cloud passin’ by. It’s time I say, Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. My best friends 1 2 and 3, they won’t shed no tears for me. They know it’s time I go. While my family’s gonna try to hide the sadness they feel inside. They don’t know why I have to go. I haven’t spoken to my dad in years. I don’t suspect he wants to hear from me. There’s so much on which we disagree. And I only saw my mother twice. When I was tired she let me rest my eyes, and in the mornin’ I told her, Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. I roam. I roam. I ain’t got no home, so, I’m gonna sail up into the sky, catch the next cloud driftin’ by. It’s time I go. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.

I sat down to a game of cards. The dealer wore a tophat. I thought it rather odd, but he dealt the first hand with a wave of his magic wand. The torso of a woman sat on my right. Her legs on my left. What a sight to be sitting with half a lady on each side. Little white rabbit rummaged round my feet and a little white dove flew across the street, and the dealer held the Ace of Spades up his sleeve. The torso hit blackjack. I got a bust. The legs hit jackpot. That was just what the dealer planned. When he flipped his cards, 21. He snatched up my tokens, put ‘em in his hat, said, Don’tcha go anywhere, boy. I’ll be right back. So I sat and listened to billiards balls clack. Figured as I waited I’d buy another round although my head was in a whirlpool, my feet weren’t on the ground. Darts miss bullseye and glasses clashed as the music smothered anything that might last. The dealer returned with a smile on his face, said, Boy, I thoughtcha mighta grown tired of this place. I told him that my biggest problem’s always been that I hesitate. He handed me a hanky to wipe away the sweat. Suddenly it changed to a cigarette. He pulled out a match, struck, and lit it, sayin’, I did you a favor. Whatcha think about that? I said, What you talkin’ bout? He just laughed. I puffed, my head went up, my body fell left. So he grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me outside as the torso laughed and the legs sighed and the white dove cooed on a powerline. It’s a hoax at the most! shouted a passerby. Stand here and watch, said the dealer with a sly smile, as I watched with my mind’s eye. My mind watched with angst as a crowd gathered fast. He bowed to my body and lost his tophat, and right about then the accumulating clouds clapped. A gypsy come out. She showed me my cards, said, You’re meant to be alone, boy, now go off afar, and don’tcha come back until you know who you are. Right about then a dog came on scene to chase the white rabbit and lick my face clean. Then proceeded to play the gypsy’s tamborine. This is all crazy! I told the man with the wand. He said to me, Is it? and - poof - he was gone. The gypsy gathered the dog and walked on. But she stopped once to tell me quickly, Now don’t you take this too seriously. She went around the corner and the hat sat beside me. So I put on the hat and I stood to my feet, and under the moonless sky I went down the street, and I haven’t stopped walkin’. I haven’t stopped walkin’.

So long. Take ‘er easy. New York State wants my money and I don’t got any, so I’m headin’ to Northern Cali. I took an exit in upstate NY and a state trooper stood where t pay the toll. He said, Put down your window. But my window was broke. So I put down the one in back instead. He said, Your tinting’s too dark. I said, I wasn’t aware. I come up here from a place where if you don’t have dark windows the sun will melt your steerin’ wheel. He didn’t care. He asked for my license. I don’t have one, I told him. Get out of the car! Why not? So I told him why not. I’m always movin’ from place to place. Don’t stay anywhere long enough. To get a license you gotta be a resident. I’m a resident of the United States, but not any one place. The police shook his head and he asked for my insurance. I said, I don’t have any. He looked mad at me. I said, Sir, you gotta have a license if you wanna buy insurance! So the police man put in my hand three citations, then called another man to tow my car. Said it wouldn’t go far, but it would cost a hundred and eighty-seven dollars. I got my car back with the last of my money and I booked it out of NY state. Found some work in Wisconsin, but it didn’t last long and no one around was hirin’. Get a job! No job to have? Too bad. Too bad. So it’s so long! Take ‘er easy! New York State wants my money and I don’t got any, so I’m headin’ to Northern Cali!

Hey preacher man, Mr. Preacher man, can you tell me what kinda man Jesus was? Jesus was a preachin' man. Spread the good news all across the land. Hey homeless man. Hey homeless man, can you tell me what kinda man Jesus was? Jesus was a homeless man. Spent his whole life walkin' through the desert sand. That's right. Hey castaway. Hey castaway, can you tell me what kinda man Jesus was? Jesus was a carin' man. Come by, picked me up by my dirty hands, even though they were dirty. Hey rich man. Hey rich man, can you tell me what kinda man Jesus was? Jesus was a thief, man. Took what was mine, put it in other people's hands. That's right Hey military man. Mr. Military man, can you tell me what kinda man Jesus was? Jesus was a peaceful man. Said to love your enemy til he becomes your friend. Hey president. Mr. President, can I please ask you what kinda man Jesus was? Jesus was not a political man. He didn't do what the government said, so they had to hang 'im. We had to. Hey Jesus. Mr. Jesus, can you please tell me what kinda man you was? Just around to help my fellow man. That's all. Don't fight over me, please. You're better than that.

Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When I was down and out, Love lifted me. Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When I was down and out, Love lifted me. I got a letter from my home tellin’ me my Papa was gone. I was low and feelin’ all alone, but Love lifted me. Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When I was down and out, Love lifted me. Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When I was down and out, Love lifted me. I met a man all alone tellin’ me his family had left him. He said he felt just like an empty pack of cigarettes blowin’ down the road. He said, My friend, and I may be lost, and I don’t know the last time I had someone to count on. Sometimes I’m low and feelin’ sad, but Love lifted me. Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When I was down and out, Love lifted me. Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When I was down and out, Love lifted me.