mojo monkeys discography:  blessings and curses

     bodacious
i got a girl about five foot one
she got a real short fuse and long shotgun
shoulda known better that to do her like that
she hit me upside the noggin with a baseball bat
she works all day, she don’t lay around
but she likes to rock it when the sun goes down
oh yeah, she’s a red hot motivator
oh yeah, she’s sweet and tough
oh yeah, she likes to shake that moneymaker
oh yeah, she’s bodacious
my girl stands about five foot four
she got both feet flat on the floor
when the girl’s got to have it, she don’t take no
she’ll grab ahold, and she won’t let go
she’s as hard headed as a barnyard mule
moves kind of slow, but she ain’t no fool
oh yeah, she’s a red hot motivator
oh yeah, she’s sweet and tough
oh yeah, she like to shake that moneymaker
oh yeah, she’s bodacious
some girls like to lay around and moan
some girls are restless like a rolling stone
some girls will leave with a crippling pain
some girls will have you in a ball and chain
my girl’s fine, she don’t drag me down
but mama don’t take no messing around
oh yeah, she’s a red hot motivator
oh yeah, she’s sweet and tough
oh yeah, she like to shake that moneymaker
oh yeah, she’s bodacious

     enough
you got the stomach for it
you got the spit and bluff
the funds, the guns, the ammo
but you just can’t get enough
you got the winning smile
you got the skill and luck
you got the hustle
the muscle and brains
but you just can’t get enough
you got the capital
all the necessary stuff
you got the gravy, baby
but you just can’t get enough
that’s your problem
you just can’t have it all
just one more bite of that big sweet cake
and you know it’s bound to fall
you got the numbers down
you got your pitch worked up
you got the wattage
but you just can’t get enough
you got the spunk, you got the spit
but you just don’t know what to do with it
you got the bark , you got the bite
but you just can’t tame your appetite
you got the sequence down
got your morale propped up
the beef, the soul, the money, honey
but you just can’t get enough

     can’t say no
4 in the morning, the telephone rings
who else could it be?
you must be way down on your list
i know i shouldn’t let you use me like this
but i’m crazy about you, little freak
you call me up cause you know i’m weak
you call me sweetie when your sugar runs low
i know you call me cause i can’t say no
you only call me cause i can’t say know
you call me up
you only call me when you’re down on your luck
i get attention when you’re broke or stuck
you drag me down
you only call me cause you get more bang for your buck
you take advantage of me cause you know
you got me hooked, i can’t let go
you call me sweetie when your sugar runs low
i know you call me cause i can’t say no
you only call me cause i can’t say know
you know i could never let you down
your sugar daddy’s gonna be around
i just can’t help myself
i love you even though you drag me down
call me sugar, call me frank
call me baby, call me daddy
call me anything, but don’t call me hank
you call me honey when your money’s spent
sometimes you call me when you’re really high
mostly you call me when your well runs dry
my mama told me that you ain’t no good
but i can’t resist you, though i know i should
call me crazy, yeah, i’m crazy about you
you call me sweetie when your sugar runs low
i know you call me cause i can’t say no
sometimes i wonder where’d my backbone go
you only call me cause i can’t say know
i know why you call me
cause i can’t say no

    girl might do
when venus is rising and the moon is waning
she might be laughing or she might be raining
she might take you along for a little ride
she might switch on the light inside
she’s so saintly, but a little scary
like mother theresa meets bloody mary
it’s too early to count your chickens
you might be asking for a little licking
ain’t no telling what the girl might do
might be a blessing or a curse on you
she might feed your lambs, or make a meal out of you
ain’t no telling what the girl might do
she’s so tough, she’s so tight
so flexible, but she’s always right, she might
take you in, or knock you out
she might show you what the fuss is about
she might be smooth, she might be hairy
might slip a mickey in your virgin mary
she might treat you nice, or treat you mean
she looks so dirty, but she smells so clean
she got: ultraviolet eyes, long, long. lovely thighs
boy, you best be wise
sorry, but i can’t give you better advice
ain’t no telling what the girl might do
might pitch a fit or stick a bit in you
she might make you do wrong
she might make you do right
might make you come home early
or stay out all night
she might be a rose, or a wild cherry
dirty delilah or mother mary
she might say maybe, she might say nyet
but don’t take her home to meet your mama, yet
ain’t no telling what the girl might do
might be a blessing or a curse on you
she might feed your lambs, or make a meal out of you
ain’t no telling what the girl might do

     beating dead horses
i gotta get something off my chest
a little thing i must confess
been beating my head against a wall
beating dead horses, my downfall
beating dead horses with my friends
beating them cause they failed to win
beating them for their fathers’ sins
beating them till they rise again
beating them cause they misbehaved
beating them for my soul to save
maybe it’s just my penance for my unfortunate choices
my sentence:
beating dead horses
beating dead horses with a stick
laying it on em, nice and thick
taking those blows and making them count
while sitting astride a lifeless mount
beating dead horses i don’t know
what the hell we doing this for ?
maybe it’s just the price i pay for poor poor choices
beating dead horses
beating my plowshares into swords
beating um like the drums war
trying to get my money back
by beating um with a battle axe
beating em back from beyond the grave
the rod and lash is all i crave
maybe it’s just my penance for my unfortunate choices
maybe it’s what i get for hearing fear driven voices
beating dead horses

     baton rouge
gong back to baton rouge
gonna leave this dusty texas town behind
i won’ t have no peace of mind
till i cross that louisiana line
ain’t no water nowhere around
only oil and poison in the ground
they’re pumping out our mother’s blood
sell it just to buy another round
come looking for that money tree
all i found was thorns and chaparral
desolation spreading out
beat down like the sun upon my brow
maybe god has cursed this land
maybe it’s where the devil made his bed
ain’t no place fit for a man to live
everything is thorny, dry, and dead
going back to baton rouge
where my roots grow deep in fertile ground
back to where my family is
back where i belong, in my home town

    in the wind
yeah, i know you’re trying to shake
the stuff your daddy said
like, “you ain’t gonna amount to nothing”
and it’s messing with your head
it’s only money that’s missing
you’re just one kiss from cashing in
you ain’t got a pot to piss in
but you ain’t just pissing in the wind
yeah, i know it makes you crazy
chasing after bucks
you know money doesn’t matter
but being without it sucks
it’s only money that’s missing
you’re just one kiss from cashing in
you ain’t got a pot to piss in
but you ain’t just pissing in the wind
you’ve got something in you
that them pharisees can’t touch
you’re one of the chosen ones
you can’t be measured up
it’s only money that’s missing
you’re just one kiss from cashing in
you ain’t got a pot to piss in
but you ain’t just pissing in the wind
so put away that yardstick
put down that stupid gun
you ain’t going nowhere, baby
step out in the sun
it’s only money that’s missing
you’re just one kiss from cashing in
you ain’t got a pot to piss in
but you ain’t just pissing in the wind

californialabama
well, you probably think i’m some kind of nut
but i appreciate the ride
i’ve been out out on i 10
in this cold texas wind
there just ain’t no place to hide
i shot a man in alabama
there, now my secret’s out
yeah, we’ve all done a thing or two
that we ain’t proud about
i’m a man with a mission
i’m a missionary man
i’m going to california
with a pistol and a plan
forty dollars in my pocket
and a fever in my head
i’m going to california
arriving alive or dead
well, my future’s looking fine, despite my checkered past
california’s on my mind, alabama’s on my ass
i’m headed for the wall
to arrest my fall from grace
the blood is on my hands
and the sun square in my face
i spent a long redeyed night
in an el paso launderette
they say there’s an angel on that hillside, there
but i ain’t seen her yet
well, my future’s looking fine, despite my checkered past
california’s on my mind, alabama’s on my ass
i met the chupa cabra
he tried to run me down
i caught him with a hackamore
and rode him into town
i met up with the devil
he offered me a loan
i kicked him in his fat behind
and told him to go home
well, my future’s looking fine, despite my checkered past
california’s on my mind, alabama’s on my ass

    monkey thumb
oh, go on with your monkey thumb
the monkey thumb ain’t nothing
but a blessing in disguise
depends on what you make it
don’t matter about the size
don’t matter where you got it
don’t matter where you’re from
just matters where you’re headed
so get on with your monkey thumb
go on with bag of shadows
go on with your burden
i know about the thorn in your side
go on with your monkey thumb
some got thumbs for scratching
some thumbs set you free
some got thumbs for snatching
the banana from the tree
go on with bag of shadows
go on with your burden
i know about the thorn in your side
go on with your monkey thumb

     she’ll be alright
she’s passed out on the floor again in her pink platforms and that purple wig
if she’s a tortured soul it doesn’t show right now
her face looks so serene, even tagged with sharpies, white with dust
an angel floating far away while the party rages on around her
she’s not one to make commitments
she’s got so good at getting by
she never stays but she never lies
she’ll be alright
she’s back at making art again, with 80’s cars and acetylene
i watch her working for a while but she don’t know i’m there
she raises up her welding mask and smiles that smile that makes me melt
she don’t know how much i care for her, she never will
yeah, i know sometimes she wants me
she’s not afraid to say goodbye
she never stays but she never lies
she’ll be alright
she’s an angel lost in space
with the brightest mind and loveliest face
i hope somehow she’ll find her place

     dirty money
dirty money dirty money dirty money etc.

      our curse
i have this desire to break things
this urge to destroy
things are so much more interesting
when they’re broken…. fragmented
i have this desire to break things
things are so much more interesting
maybe that’s why we break things
how do we choose what we destroy?
how do we choose what is sacred?
what, in it’s wholeness, scares us
or, what is sharp and clean, and pierces us
lays us open for inspection
men like me
don’t want to be a specimen
we want to be fishermen
we want to search and destroy
we want to pierce, and not be pierced
that is our curse

     the mockingbird song
there’s a mockingbird singing in my tree
maybe he’s singing for me
cause there’s no one awake
it’s a quarter to three
must be he’s singing for me
he’s singing a song of the south
i don’t mean to put words in his mouth
but he’s full of bad whiskey
i swear, he’s whistling dixie
singing a song of the south
now, he’s whistling a low urban tune
jacked up and high as a loon
with a green jaundiced eye
catching flies in the rye
singing like a dog at the moon
there’s a strange, bitter bird in my tree
singing songs full of sweet irony
how he was lost in la
how he was paying to play
but at least, now, he’s singing for free
now he’s mocking the birds down the block
now he’s crowing an ode to cock rock
he does a pretty good car alarm
does the chicks from the farm
there’s a mockingbird singing in my tree
there’s a mockingbird singing in the dark
but he don’t know a crow from a lark
he turns a screaming siren
into a song of the sea
there’s a mockingbird singing in my tree

© 2009 mojo monkeys