Someone's funeral, Old Miss Do
Is bouncing through the quarter
Henry hurries to the bar,
Down there on Decatur
The morning stinks of last night's fun;
The morning sidewalk's sticky
Henry chain-smokes Camel Lights,
s**s down his second dixie
Dear boy,
They just don't understand me
How could they? They've not seen
The things that I've seen
Even then,
Why should they believe me?
They look at me now,
Not at what I have been
Dear boy,
We lived in Paris
I bought Lilly a piano
For the place in Montmartre
They look at me now
And I know they despise me
But what can they know
Of the love in my heart
Lilly comes back from charity
'Will you carry her up the stairs?'
Henry he's to old to help
And he just stands and swears
'Someday soon she won't come back'
'Nothing is more certain'
'And I shall be a lonely actor'
'Waiting for the curtain'
Dear boy,
At the p**ycat, she worked for Miss Dixie
Some people thought she was one of the girls
You should have seen us
So handsome, so pretty
She was always my Lilly
The flower of my world
Dear boy,
Why do you come back here?
The world is your oyster
What makes you stay?
One morning, we wake up
And age has us prisoner
If it wasn't for Lilly,
I'd be far away
Hustlers hustle frat boys
Who are chasing down cheap thrills
Fry their brains with hurricanes
And they pay with sweaty bills
Disco blares from double-play
There's a shuffle and second-line beat
Henry shambles home again
Along Decatur Street