Blue Valentine

little black girl in a red dress
on a hot night with a broken shoe
little black girl you shoulda never left home
theres probly someone thats still waitin up for you
its cold back in chicago
but in los angeles its worse
when all you got is $29.00 and an alligator purse

i see already that vulture in the fleetwood
with the shartruse hood
can see you're trying to get your bearings
and you say hey which ways the main stem
and where ever you say you're from
he'll say he grew up there himself
and he'll comeon and make you feel
like you grew up right next door to him
and you say take a left on central
and he throws it in reverse
cause you only got $29.00 and an alligator purse

and he'll come on like a gentleman
and you'll be a little shy
you say your ex old man was a sax player
he'll say baby i used to play bass for sly
and you say you like his cadillac, say honey i got 2 or 3
he'll say sweetheart you're sure fortunate
that you ran into me
when you've done a dime in the joint
you figure nothin could be worse
and you got $29.00 in an alligator purse

well he got pharoh on the 8 track
you start smokin a little boo
you thinkin gettin out of chicago was the
best thing ever happened to you
but he ain't no good samaritan
he'll make sure he's reimbursed
lot more than $29.00 and an alligator purse

now the sirens just an epilog
the cops always get there to late
they always stop for coffee on the way to the scene of the
crime
they always try so hard to look like movie stars
they couldnt catch a cold
you only wasting your dime
and she's lucky to be alive
the doctor whispered to the nurse
she only lost a 1/2 pint of blood
$29.00 and an alligator purse

put a dead cat on the railroad tracks
when the wolf bains blooming by the tressel
and get the eyeball of a rooster
and the stones from a ditch
and wash em down with bilge water
and you say you'll never snitch
take the buttons from a yellow jacket
the feaather from a buzzard
and thr blood from a bounty hunters cold black heart
catch the tears of a widow
in a thimble made of glass
tell your mama and papa
they can kick your ass
poison all the water in the wishin well
and hang all them scarecrows from a sycamore tree
burn down all those honeymoons
put em in a pillow case
and wait next to the switch blades at the amusement park
for me
strangle all the christmas carols
scratch out all your prayers
tie em up with barbed wire
and push them down the stairs
and i'll whittle you a pistol
for keeping nightmares of the blinds
those sunabitches always seem to sneake up from behind
syphon all the gas from your daddys pickup truck
fill up johnnys t bird
i got a couple of bucks
put a little perfume and ribbon in your hair
careful that you don't wake up the hounds
tear a bolt of lightning
of the side of the sky
and throw it in the cedar chest
if you want to tell me why
bring the gear shift knob from a 49 merc
and lay down here beside me
let me hold you in the dirt
and you'll tremble as the flames
tear the throat out of the night
sink your teeth into my shoulder
dig your nails into my back
tell that little girl to let go of my sleeve
you'll be a woman when i catch you
as you fall in love with me
then with my double barrel shotgun
and a whole box of shells
we'll celebrate the 4 of july
we'll do 100 mph
spendin someone elses dough
and we'll drive all the way to reno
on the wrong side of the road

Eddie graces buick got 4 bullet holes in the side
Charlie delisle sittin at the top of an avocado tree
Mrs stormll stab you with a steak knife if you step on her lawn i got a half pack of lucky strikes man come along with me lets fill our pockets with macadamia nuts then go over to bobby goodmans
Nd jump off the roof hilda plays strip poker and her mamas across the street joey navinski says she put her tongue in his mouth dicky faulkners got a switchblade and some gooseneck risers that e
Ptus is a hunchback theres a wind up from the south let me tie you up with kite string and i'll show you the scabs on my knee watch out for the broken glass, put your shoes and socks on and come
G with me lets follow that fire track
I think your house is burnin down
The go down to the hobo jungle
And kill some rattle snakes with a trowel
We'll break all the windows in the old anderson place
And steal a bunch of boysenberrys
And smear em on our face
I'll get a dollar from my mamas purse
And buy that skull and crossbones ring
And you can wear it around your neck
On an old piece of string

Then we'll spit on ronnie arnold
And flip him the bird
And slash the tires on the school bus
Now don't say a word
I'll take a rusty nail
And scratch your initials on my arm
And i'll show you how to sneak up
On the roof of the drugstore

Take the spokes from your wheelchair
And a magpies wings
And tie em to your shoulders and your feet
I'll steal a hacksaw from my dad
And cut the braces off your legs
And we'll bury them tonight in the cornfield

Put a church keey in your pocket
We'll hop that freight train in the hall
And we'll slide down the drain all the way
To new orleans in the fall

She sends me blue valentines
All the way from Philadelphia
To mark the anniversary
Of someone that I used to be
And it feels just like theres
A warrant out for my arrest
Got me checkin in my rearview mirror
And I'm always on the run
Thats why I changed my name
And I didn't think you'd ever find me here

To send me blue valentines
Like half forgotten dreams
Like a pebble in my shoe
As I walk these streets
And the ghost of your memory
Is the thistle in the kiss
And the burgler that can break a roses neck
It's the tatooed broken promise
That I hide beneath my sleeve
And I see you every time I turn my back

She sends me blue valentines
Though I try to remain at large
They're insisting that our love
Must have a eulogy
Why do I save all of this madness
In the nightstand drawer
There to haunt upon my shoulders
Baby I know
I'd be luckier to walk around everywhere I go
With a blind and broken heart
That sleeps beneath my lapel

She sends me my blue valentines
To remind me of my cardinal sin
I can never wash the guilt
Or get these bloodstains off my handa
And it takes a lot of whiskey
To take this nightmares go away
And I cut my bleedin heart out every nite
And I die a little more on each St. Valentines day
Remember that I promised I would
Write you...
These blue valentines
blue valentines
blue valentines

She wore red shoes by the drugstore
as the rain splashed the nickel
spilled like chablis along the midway
theres a little bluejay
in a red dress, on a sad night

one straw in a rootbeer
a compact with a cracked mirror
and a bottle of evening in paris perfume

he told her to wait in by the magazines
he had to take care of some buisness it seems
bring a raincoat and a suitcase
and your dark eyes
and wear those red shoes

theres a dark huddle at the bus stop
umbrellas arranged in a sad bouquet
li'l cesaer got caught
he was going down to second
he was cooled
changing stations on the chamber
to steal a diamond
from a jewelry store for his baby
he loved the way she looked in those red shoes

she waited by the drugstore
cesaer had never been this late before
and the dogs bayed the moon
and rattled their chains
and the cold jingle of taps in a puddle
was the burglar alarm
snitchin on ceasar

now the rain washes memories from the sidewalks
and the hounds splash down the nickel
full of soldiers
and santa claus is drunk in the ski room
and it's christmas eve in a sad cafe
when the moon gets this way
there's a little blue jay
by the newstand
wearing red shoes

so meet me tonight by the drugstore
we're goin out tonight
wear your red shoes

it's raining it's pouring
and you didn't bring a sweater
nebraska will never let you come back home
and on hollywood and wine
by the thrifty mart sign
any night i'll be willin to bet
there's a young girl
with sweet little wishes
and pretty blue dreams
standin there and gettin all wet

now there's a place off the drag
called the gilbert hotel
there's a couple letters burned out in the sign
and it's better than a bus stop
and they do good buisness
every time it rains
for sweet little girls
with nothing in their jeans
but sweet little wishes
and pretty blue jeans

now it's raining it's pouring
the old mam is snoring
now i lay me down to sleep
i hear the sirens in the street
all the dreams are made of chrome
i have no way to get back home
i'd rather die before i wake
like marilyn monroe
and throw my jeans out in
the street and the rain will make 'em grow

now the night clerk he got a club foot
and he's heard every hard luck story
at least a hundred times or more
he says check out time is 10 am
and that's just what he means
and you go up the stairs
with sweet little wishes
and pretty blue dreams

now it's raining it's pouring
and hollywods just fine
swindle a little out of her dreams
put a letter in the sign
never trust a scarecrow
wearin' shades after dark
be careful of that old bow tie he wears
it takes a sweet little bullet
from a pretty blu gun
to put those scarlet ribbons in your hair
no that ain't no cherry bomb
4th of july's all done
just some fool playin' that second line
from the barrel of a pretty blue gun

no that ain't no cherry bomb
4th of july's all done
just some fool playin' that second line
from the barrel of a pretty blue gun

hey charlie i'm pregnant
and living on the 9th street
right above a dirty bookstore
of euclid avenue
and i stopped takin dope
and i quit drinkin whiskey
and my old man plays the trombone
and works out at the track

and he says that he loves me
even though its not his baby
and he says that he'll raise him up
like he would his own son
and he gave me a ring
that was worn by his mother
and he takes me out dancin
every saturday night.

and hey charlie i think about you
everytime i pass a fillin station
om account of all the grease
you used to wear in your hair
and i still have that record
of little anthony & the imperials
but someone stole my record player
now how do you like that?

hey charlie i almost went crazy
after mario got busted
so i went back to omaha to
live with my folks
but everyone i used to know
was either dead or in prison
so i came back to minneapolis
this time i think i'm gonna stay.

hey charlie i think i'm happy
for the first time since my accident
and i wish i had all the money
that we used to spend on dope
i'd buy me a used car lot
and i wouldn't sell any of em
i'd just drive a different car
every day, dependin on how
i feel

hey charlie for chrissakes
do you want to know the
truth of it?
i don't have a husband
he don't play the trombone
and i need to borrow money
to pay this lawyer
and charlie, hey
i'll be eligible for parole
come valentines day