Lyrics--Good Old Boys Disc 2 (Johnny Cutler's Birthday)

The lyrics to Johnny Cutler's Birthday were transcribed by Barrett Davidson. Thanks Barrett!

Rednecks

Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart-ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox, too.
Well, he may be a fool, but he’s our fool
And if they think they’re better than him, they’re wrong.
So when I came to this park, I took some paper along
And here’s where I made this song.

We talk real funny down here.
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We’re too dumb to make in no Northern town
And we’re keepin’ the niggers down.

We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
Good old boys from Tennessee
College men out of LSU
Went in dumb, come out dumb too
Hustlin ‘round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Getting’ drunk every weekend at the barbecues
And they’re keepin’ the niggers down.

We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keepin’ the niggers down.

Now your Northern nigger’s a negro
See, he’s got his dignity
Down here we too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free.

Yes, he’s free to be put in a cage in Harlem in New York City
And he’s free to be put in a cage on the South-Side of Chicago and the West-Side
And he’s free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And they’ll put him in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And they’ll put him in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And they’ll put him in a cage in Lennox Hill in Boston
They’re gatherin’ them up from miles around
Keepin’ the niggers down.

We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keepin’ the niggers down.
Yes, we’re keepin’ the niggers down.

Marie

Marie, you looked like a princess
The night we met
With your hair piled up high
I will never forget
I’m drunk right now, baby
But I’ve got to be
I never could tell you
What you mean to me

I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie

You’re the song that the trees sing
When the wind blows
You’re a river, you’re the moonlight
You’re a rainbow
Sometimes I’m crazy
But I guess you know
And I’m weak and I’m lazy
And I hurt you so
And I never listen to a word you say
When you come to me in trouble, darlin’
I just turn away

But I love you, and I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie

If We Didn't Have Jesus

If we didn’t have Jesus
We wouldn’t have no one at all
If we didn’t have Jesus
We wouldn’t have no one at all
If we didn’t have Jesus
We wouldn’t have no one at all

God gonna set this world on fire
God gonna set this world on fire
God gonna set this world on fire
One of these days, one of these days, one of these days.

All of the sinners gonna turn up missing
All of the sinners gonna turn up missing
All of the sinners gonna turn up missing
One of these days, one of these days, one of these days

Gonna climb up Jacob’s ladder, it’s not very far away
Gonna climb up Jacob’s ladder one of these days.

I’m gonna walk and talk with Jesus
I’m gonna walk and talk with Jesus
I’m gonna walk and talk with Jesus
One of these days, one of these days, one of these days.

God gonna set this world on fire
God gonna set this world on fire
God gonna set this world on fire
One of these days, one of these days, one of these days

Good Morning

Good morning, good morning, good morning
And a very happy birthday to you
Susie sing happy birthday to Daddy
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you
Susie sing happy birthday to Daddy
Happy birthday to you
Now Daddy may not spend much time with us (Fuck off)
But I’m sure that he loves you a lot
Susie sing happy birthday to Daddy
He’s the only daddy you’ve got (Fuck off)
Fuck off, but I’m the song that the trees sing when the wind blows
Fuck off, but, honey, I’m the starlight and I’m a rainbow
Susie sing happy birthday to Daddy
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you
Susie sing happy birthday to Daddy
Happy birthday to you

Birmingham

Got a wife, got a family
Earn my living with my hands
I’m a roller in a steel mill
In downtown Birmingham.

My daddy, he was a barber
A most unsightly man
He was born in Tuscaloosa
Died right here in Birmingham

Birmingham, Birmingham,
The greatest city in Alabam’
You can travel ‘cross this entire land
There ain’t no place like Birmingham

Me and a couple of friends of mine
Drove on up to Seattle to see the fair
We was just out of Birmingham High School at the time
And we hadn’t been anywhere
To make a long story short,
We was eight days in Seattle
And the sun never once did shine
We had to stay inside in our hotel room
Cause it’s raining all the time

Birmingham, Birmingham,
The greatest city in Alabam’
You can travel ‘cross this entire land
There ain’t no place like Birmingham
There ain’t no place like Birmingham

Birmingham Redux

Let me tell you something about myself
I’m very wealthy, I’m a college man
I’ve got no time to trifle with trash like you
For I must be about my business (He must be about his business)
Have you seen my summer home in Mobile (Yes, we’ve seen it)
Have you seen me in my plane, racin’ with the sun (Yes, we have)
Have you seen me climb atop the ancient ruins of Tuscaloosa
Just as the old ones must have done
I got a wife named Maria
And I got a big, black dog named Dan
And I got a three-room apartment on East 14th Street
Downtown Birmingham

Birmingham, Birmingham
Greatest city in Alabam’
You can travel ‘cross this entire land
There ain’t no place like Birmingham
There ain’t no place like Birmingham

The Joke

A rabbit bein’ chased by a big, black dog
Through the early mornin’ fog
Over the meadow and past the bog,
They were runnin’

The rabbit had jumped a fence or two
Cause that’s what rabbits like to do
Big black dog had to jump ‘em too
They was runnin’

Now this black dog had a brother
‘Cept he was white as snow
One looked like the other
Least that’s how the story go

So the black dog’s chasin’ the rabbit down the road
And he seen a familiar face he knowed
He said, “Hey there white dog, what you say?
Take over chasin’ this rabbit, all right?
Thank you, get away!
Take over chasin’ this rabbit
Or they’ll be no rabbit stew today for us.”

And here what the white dog say
He say, “That rabbit smiled as he went by
He know he got you beat, that’s why.
You wait here and I’ll chase a while
Cause I hate to see a rabbit smile.”
So off he go, off the white dog go.

Now when that little rabbit looked around
He jumped four feet off the ground
He said, “That big old dog that’s chasin’ me
Why, he’s taken off his jacket and he’s runnin’ free
He’s taken off his jacket and he’s catchin’ me.”

Now there’s a moral to this story
For crazy rabbits with dreams of glory
Any rabbit think a dog wear a jacket
Should get out of the rabbit racket.
One dog’s brother is another dog’s child
And no one likes to see a rabbit smile.

Doctor, Doctor

My brother’s a machinist and he works at the mill
And he makes more money than you ever will
He just got married to a Polish girl
With a space between her teeth
When he was ten or eleven years old
He was helping out my Pop in the barbershop
Sweeping up the hair as it would drop
On to the boardwalk and out of the shop

Doctor, doctor, what you say?
How ‘bout lettin’ him out today?
I can promise you he’ll be OK
There ain’t no reason for him to stay

Get him back on his feet again
Back on his feet again
Open the door and set him free
Get him back on his feet again

One day he was workin’ in the barbershop
Knocked over some bottles with the handle of his broom
And he cried
Daddy took him to a baseball game, and still he cried
Daddy took him to the zoo, and still he cried
Daddy said, “Son, I ain’t angry,
But I’m so disappointed in you.”

Get him back on his feet again
Back on his feet again
Open the door and set him free
Get him back on his feet again

Louisiana

What had happened down there was the wind had changed
Cloud rolled in from the north and it started to rain
It rained real hard and it rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

The river rose all day, the river rose all night
Some got lost in the flood, some got away all right
The river busted through clear down to Plaquemine
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away

President Coolidge come down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a notepad in his hand.
President say, “Little fat man, isn’t it a shame
What the river has done to this poor cracker’s land?”

Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away

Albanian Anthem

A light shines on the goatherd
And the snow lingers yet on the ground
In the forest deep where the grey wolf sleeps
Comes a wonderful, wonderful sound
Albania, Albania
We pledge our faith in thee
Albania, Albania…

My Daddy Knew Dixie Howell

Seein’ that tomorrow’s my birthday
Happy birthday to you
Seein’ that this is the final night of my 29th year
Happy birthday to you
Seein’ that all my fuckin’ friends were assembled here to greet me
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
I’m gonna tell you all the story of my life
I’m gonna tell you all the story of my life

My daddy knew Dixie Howell,
He used to cut his hair
Daddy had a shop in Tuscaloosa,
And Howell was on a team up there
When I was born, Daddy put a football in my cradle
Later on, he put a football helmet in my bed
So when he died I put a razor in his coffin
And poured Vaseline all over his head.
Magnolias, magnolias, magnolias they had
The people come from mile around
To follow Daddy’s coffin to the graveyard
And put poor Daddy’s body in the ground
Magnolias, you should have smelled the magnolias, Daddy
Don’t you wish it was me layin’ there instead?
But tomorrow I will be sober, Daddy,
And you will still be dead.

Rolling

Rollin’, rollin’
Ain’t gonna worry no more
Rollin’, rollin’
Ain’t gonna worry no more

I never drink in the afternoon
And I never drink alone
But I sure do like a drink or two
When I get home
Every evening what I do
Is I sit here in this chair
After a couple drinks of whiskey
I just don’t care

I’m all right now
I’m all right now
I never thought I’d make it,
But I always do somehow
And I’m all right now

Rollin’, rollin’
Ain’t gonna worry no more
Rollin’, rollin’
Ain’t gonna worry no more

Shining

Y’all should have seen me
When I was sixteen years old
Had my hair hangin’ free down my back
It used to shine in the sun like gold.

Went eight years of grade school
Four years of high school
I was never sick one day
And the kids that were with you in the first grade
Were with you all the way

We’d go over to Augusta for a ball game
We’d all go down to Daytona for the race
We’d go over to the drive-in every Friday
Shining in the sun like gold

Some cold winter morning, outside the school
And the bell hadn’t rung just yet
We stand outside the gate, smoke a cigarette
Brushin’ the snow off our clothes, and lean against the wall
Shining

And there wasn’t no baby cryin’
And there wasn’t no laundry waitin’ for me on the line
If I didn’t want to be alone, I didn’t have to be alone
All I had to do was shine
Shining
Shining

Lord there must be something better
Lord it just don’t seem right
To cook the same breakfast for the same man every morning
Sleep with the same man every night
For the rest of my life
For the rest of my life

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