The Dozens

I had a few more questions I never knew to ask You were feeling downhearted The last time we parted With the shock of the white hair Life has changed a lot you know And I'm kind of scared of that It bottoms out in seconds flat You said you had a good friend He died so needlessly Knocked over by a garbage truck They threw him down, then they picked him up And your son was back home again Your little boy and his children He's fighting off a mean disease That's killing off his faculties Tell me a little joke Let's play the dozens Say something about my mama In a veiled quadrille round I'm just a white girl From a segregated town And I'm looking for some answers That I haven't found I remember Memphis Like it was yesterday And a Ford station wagon So full of us, it was dragging With your books in our grasping hands We heard you speak, we made our plans To hoist the flag and rule the world All the hopes we had unfurled Tell me a little joke Let's play the dozens Say something about my mama In a veiled quadrille round I'm just a white girl From a segregated town And I'm looking for some answers That I haven't found Bridge: I want to be just like you I want to love first, I do Look people in the eye Make them feel good Then I'll make them think Just like you would Y'all were off on a night stroll Down the capitol boulevards You were emboldening another son Of this grand nation I would vote for you for president But you're floating with the butterflies Soaring with the seagulls Or the eagle as he takes the skies Let's eat some democratic soup And Eastern Market cheese Meals with you and Cornelia Were my most precious memories I don't know what the hell to do Please give me a little tap Tell me I can take it That I won't bottom out in seconds flat