cousin george lives next door
and he was pacing
both our lawns when
i showed up for supper.
see, he's the sort that sleeps with
his hands in fists and,
out of nowhere he spat,
"shirley ain't home!"
to which i said, "i know she ain't
i saw little shirley in town today
she got her nails done red
and some lingerie to match.
and then she boarded a train
down to baton rouge
after trading her tip jar in
for some shoes
without the ruby heels to
bring her back."
and he said, "well surely she'll call!"
i said, "i know she won't
you can hold back tears, but let go of
the hope
that you're ever gonna see your little
shirley girl again.
no, she didn't pack a bag
but she had her guitar
'twas all she came here with
and her eyes full of hearts and
you can't take a cajun queen
from lousianne.
seems your shirley's got herself a
creole man."
and of course,
cousin george didn't like that,
not one bit
but it wasn't my fault
i just said what shirley had requested
sent my crooked cousin george
on a wild goose chase
while shirley rode a greyhound
to somewhere up in maine
least i could do was
help that sweet little dame
finally get away
from my crazy family!