Grateful Dead - Mexicali Blues lyrics

Laid back in an old saloon, with a peso in my hand,<br>Watchin' flies and children on the street,<br>And I catch a glimpse of black-eyed girls who giggle when I smile,<br>There's a little boy who wants to shine my feet.<br><br>And it's three days ride from bakersfield and I don't know why I came.<br>I guess I came to keep from payin' dues.<br>So instead I've got a bottle and a girl who's just fourteen,<br>And a damn good case of the mexicali blues. yeh!<br><br>Is there anything a man don't stand to lose,<br>When the devil wants to take it all away? <br>Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip on your booze,<br>Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today.<br><br>She said her name was billy jean and she was fresh in town.<br>I didn't know a stage line ran from hell.<br>She had raven hair, a ruffled dress, a necklace made of gold,<br>All the french perfume you'd care to smell.<br><br>She took me up into her room and whispered in my ear,<br>Go on, my friend, do anything you choose.<br>Now I'm payin' for those happy hours I spent there in her arms,<br>With a lifetime's worth of the mexicali blues.<br><br>Is there anything a man don't stand to lose,<br>When the devil wants to take it all away? <br>Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip on your booze<br>Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today.<br><br>And then a man rode into town, some thought he was the law.<br>Billy jean was waitin' when he came.<br>She told me he would take her, if I didn't use my gun,<br>I'd have no one but myself to blame.<br><br>I went down to those dusty streets, blood was on my mind.<br>I guess that stranger hadn't heard the news<br>Cause I shot first and killed him, lord, he didn't even draw<br>And he made me trade the gallows for the mexicali blues.<br><br>Is there anything a man don't stand to lose<br>When he lets a woman hold him in her hands? <br>He just might find himself out there on horseback in the dark<br>Just ridin' and runnin' across those desert sands.