Mama gimme a nickel and a deck of cards
Said go on and play in the back yard
Walking down the alley come my Uncle Lonnie
Said lemme teach ya about Three-card Monte
Take the ace of hearts and two black queens
Flip 'em over so they can't be seen
Spin 'em around four or five times
Bet a nickel find the ace and win a dime
Ten minutes later I had thirty five dollars
Singing ain't misbehaving by the great Fats Waller
I believe I'm gonna count my blessings
I believe I'm gonna count my blessings
Now I saw a black crow on a fence post
Singing away like Sam Hopkins's ghost
He sang when you see I ain't breathing no more
Nail my feathers to an old barn door
Or drag my carca** out behind the shed
Just make sure you're pretty sure I'm dead
Ask an Ouija board if you can't quite tell
Or if I start to stink like the floors in hell
Go to Navasota after I'm done dying
It don't do you no good sitting around crying
So I got me a pencil and a moleskin book
When I heard Bertha Franklin shot and k**ed Sam Cooke
Wrote down December 11, 1964
Ain't gonna be twisting the night away no more
It took 15 minutes for the jury to decide
'Cause of d**h's justified homicide
Liza Boyer wasn't called by the prosecution
Later on she's arrested for prostitution
La Hacienda motel had a busted down door
Sam's wallet and his money was never accounted for