Lyrics--Best of Randy Newman

Mama Told Me Not To Come

Will you have whiskey with your water
Or sugar with your tea?
What are these crazy questions
That they're asking of me?
This is the wildest party that there ever could be
Oh, don't turn on the light 'cause I don't want to see

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
Mama said, "That ain't no way to have fun"

Open up the window, let some air into this room
I think I'm almost choking on the smell of stale perfume
And that cigarette you're smoking 'bout to scare me half to death
Open up the window, let me catch my breath

The radio is blasting, someone's beating on the door
Our hostess is not lasting - she's out on the floor
I seen so many things here I ain't never seen before
I don't know what it is - but I don't wanna see no more

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
Mama said, "That ain't no way to have fun"

I Love L.A.

Hate New York City
It's cold and it's damp
And all the people dressed like monkeys
Let's leave Chicago to the Eskimos
That town's a little too rugged
For you and me, you bad girl

Rollin' down the Imperial Highway
With a big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana winds blowin' hot from the north
And we was born to ride

Roll down the window, put down the top
Crank up the Beach Boys, baby
Don't let the music stop
We're gonna ride it till we just can't ride it no more

From the South Bay to the Valley
From the West Side to the East Side
Everybody's very happy
'Cause the sun is shining all the time
Looks like another perfect day

I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)

Look at that mountain
Look at those trees
Look at that bum over there, man
He's down on his knees
Look at these women
There ain't nothin' like em nowhere

Century Boulevard (We love it)
Victory Boulevard (We love it)
Santa Monica Boulevard (We love it)
Sixth Street (We love it, we love it)
We love L.A.

I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)

You Can Leave Your Hat On

Baby, take off your coat...(real slow)
Baby, take off your shoes...(here, I'll take your shoes)
Baby, take off your dress
Yes, yes, yes
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on

Go on over there and turn on the light...no, all the lights
Now come back here and stand on this chair...that's right
Raise your arms up in to the air...shake 'em
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live

Suspicious minds are talking
Trying to tear us apart
They say that my love is wrong
They don't know what love is
They don't know what love is
They don't know what love is
They don't know what love is
I know what love is

Miami

There's a girl over there
With the rhythm everywhere
She's a very fine girl
And she's been awfully nice to me

When we walk as we sometimes do
All the way out to Collins Avenue
Well it's very, very fine
Very, very special
Very

Gee, I love Miami
It's so nice and hot
And every building's so pretty and white
And I always get into so much trouble
When I'm down here
I know these two old stiffs
Live on the Waterway
That's where I like to stay
When I'm down
In

Miami
Blue Day
Best dope in the world
And it's free
Miami
Blue day
Put on your shortie shorts
And your Hawaiian shirt
And come down!

There's a man over there
With the conk in his hair
He's a very bad man
Don't look now
He's really very bad
And his name is Medina
And he comes from Argentina
See that little dog there with him
Well, he treats it just like it was his little boy

Oh, I love Miami
It's so hot
And the women down here
Are so impure
I love to hang around
The big hotels
And sleep in the sun all day

I know this double jointed guy
With the circus in St. Pete
He's with me now
He says hello
From Fourteenth Street
In

Miami
Blue day
Best dope in the world
And it's free
Miami
Blue day
Put on your shortie shorts
And your Hawaiian shirt
And come down!

I Think It's Going To Rain Today

Broken windows and empty hallways
A pale dead moon in the sky streaked with gray
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today

Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles
With frozen smiles to chase love away
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today

Lonely, lonely
Tin can at my feet
Think I'll kick it down the street
That's the way to treat a friend

Bright before me the signs implore me
Help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today

Take Me Back

Everyone tells me
I was dealt a losing hand
The way that I look
And the way that I act
It's not hard to understand
Sure I got troubles
Maybe you got'em too
I'd like to explain what has happened to me
So it doesn't happen to you

I was born in Los Angeles
Many, many, many years ago
We lived out in North Hollywood then
In a steamy little bungalow
My mother, my father
My baby brother and me
Playin' cowboys all day
Out there in the valley
What a perfect family

Hey, hey
Get 'em up, get 'em up
Come a ti yi
Hey

Went off to high school
When I was thirteen
I was kind of advanced
If you know what I mean
Ran into some trouble
Drinkin' heavy with my friends in the hills
My daddy had to come down to the station to get me
He said, "Where is my angry young man?"

Take me back
Baby, please take me back
I don't wanna live here by this dirty old airport
In this greasy little shack
Take me back
Baby, please take me back
Just give me a chance and we'll start all over again

Now that young girl
Was just a summertime thing
She went back to school
When the school bell rang
Now I do my laundry by myself
Every night I eat alone
Baby please, please, please
Won't you let me come back home

Goin' off to college
Passed every test
They said, "Let's send this boy to Palo Alto
He could be one of the best"
Four years at Stanford
Worked very hard
A lot of good it did me, little tramp,
You're ruining my life

Take me back
Baby, please take me back
I don't wanna live here by this dirty old airport
In this greasy little shack
Take me back
Baby, please take me back
Just give me a chance
And we'll start all over again
Just give me a chance
And we'll start all over

Sail Away

In America you'll get food to eat
Won't have to run through the jungle
And scuff up your feet
You'll just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It's great to be an American

Ain't no lions or tigers
Ain't no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Ev'rybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog
Sail away with me

Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay

In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You'll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You're all gonna be an American

Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay

Same Girl

You're still the same girl you always were
You're still the same girl you always were

A few more nights on the street, that's all
A few more holes in your arm
A few more years with me, that's all

You're still the same girl

With the same sweet smile that you always had
And the same blue eyes like the sun
And the same clear voice that I always

You're still the same girl

That I love

Political Science

No one likes us-I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too

Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

Dixie Flyer

I was born right here, November '43
My dad was a captain in the army
Fighting the Germans in Sicily.
My poor little momma
Didn't know a soul in L.A.
So we went down to the Union Station and made our getaway.

Got on the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams.
On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams.

Her own mother came to meet us at the station,
Her dress as black as a crow in a coal mine
She cried when her little girl got off the train.
Her brothers and her sisters drove down from Jackson, Mississippi
In a great green Hudson driven by a Gentile they knew.
Drinkin' rye whiskey from a flask in the back seat
Tryin' to do like the Gentiles do
Christ, they wanted to be Gentiles, too.
Who wouldn't down there, wouldn't you?
An American Christian, God damn!

On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams
On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams.

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
If they think they're better than him they're wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that'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 it in no Northern town
And we're keepin' the niggers down
We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol' boys from Tennessee
And college men from LSU
Went in dumb - come out dumb too
Hustlin' 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin' drunk every weekend at the barbecues
And they're keepin' the niggers down

We're rednecks, rednecks
And we don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
And we're keeping the niggers down

Now your northern nigger's a Negro
You see he's got his dignity
Down here we're 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 in the South-Side of Chicago
And the West-Side
And he's free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he's free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he's free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he's free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Keepin' the niggers down

We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
And we're keeping the niggers down
We are keeping the niggers down

Happy Ending

Devil: I feel the hot wind blowin'
From the West to the East
I feel the hot wind blowin'
Can't get no relief
I feel the hot wind blowin'
Ev'ry day and ev'ry night
I feel my confidence growin'And I know I'm gonna be alright

I see the volcanoes
'Rupting and erupting
Red walls of fire

I got corruption
Seduction
Destruction
Reproduction
I got Las Vegas in my mind
Seem like it's stuck up in there
Like it's been up there for all times
You can take your desert
Goddamn it, give me mine
'Cause I got Las Vegas in my mind

Through these portals
Pass the rich and the famous
Through these portals
Pass the very best at what they do
Man, they're the greatest
It's the land of giant women
But the little man is king
Here in Las Vegas
Man, they got ev'rything
Run with it

They got English girls
With legs so long
You gotta use a stepladder
To lick their love thing
It's a family place too now
So bring the kids along
They're gonna have a real good time here

They got wild women from Borneo
Playin' the piano
In your bungalow
They got monkey women from the Amazon
Or something really funky
From the lands beyond
They're here in Las Vegas
They're here in Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Man, I'm speaking in tongues!

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
Or I never could tell you
What you meant 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 flower, you're a river, you're a rainbow
Sometimes I'm crazy
But I guess you know
And I'm weak and I'm lazy
And I've hurt you so
And I don't listen to a word you say
When you're in trouble 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

You've Got a Friend in Me

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
If you got troubles
I got them too
There isn't anything
I wouldn't do for you
We stick together, we can see it through
Cause you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be a little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them
Will ever love you
The way I do
It's me and you, boy

And as the years go by,
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

Louisiana 1927

What has happened down here is the winds have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
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 people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangelne

Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' 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 came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, "Little fat man isn't it a shame what the river has done
To this poor crackers 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

Feels Like Home [Live]

Something in your eyes
Makes me want to lose myself
Makes me want to lose myself
In your arms

There's something in your voice
Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
The rest of my life

If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how low I've felt for so long
If you knew how I wanted someone
To some along
And change my life the way you've done

Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back where I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

A window breaks
Down a long dark street
And a siren wails in the night
But I'm alright 'cause I have you here with me
And I can almost see
Through the dark there's a light

If you knew how much this moment
Means to me
And how long I've waited for your touch
If you knew how happy you are making me
I never thought I'd love anyone so much

Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back
Where I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back where I belong
Feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

Short People

Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
To live

They got little hands
Little eyes
They walk around
Tellin' great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little feet

Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
`Round here

Short People are just the same
As you and I
(A Fool Such As I)
All men are brothers
Until the day they die
(It's A Wonderful World)

Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
To love

They got little baby legs
That stand so low
You got to pick 'em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That go beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin' peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They're gonna get you every time
Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
'Round here

Shame

Pretty little baby
How come you never come around?
Pretty little baby
How come you never come around?
I sent you all them pretty flowers
Now you’re nowhere to be found

I call you up at midnight sometimes I must admit
And when I find you’re not at home
My head heats up like a furnace
My heart grows colder than a stone
So what’s the good of all this money I got
If every night I’m left here all alone?
It’s a gun that I need

Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
I ain’t ashamed of nothing
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
I don’t know what you're talking about

All right let’s talk a little business
You know what I’m saying
A man of my experience of life
Don’t expect a beautiful young woman like yourself
To come on over here every day
And have some old dude banging on her like a gypsy on a tambourine
That’s not what we're talking about
That’s not what we're talking about
That’s not what we're talking about

But I will say this
I’ve been all over the world
I’ve seen some wonderful things
I haven’t been well lately
I have no one to share my plans, my dreams
My hopes and my schemes, my…

Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
You could be right
I’ve sunk pretty low this time
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
These are truly desperate times

Saw your little sandals baby
Out behind the wishing well
Down here in the cool depths of the Quarter
Where the rich folk dwell
And I pictured you in diamonds, satins and pearls
Come on back to Daddy
Daddy miss his little baby girl

Now, my father, he was an angry man
You cross him he made you pay
I myself,am no longer an angry man
Don’t make me beg you
Don’t make me beg

Do you know what if feels like
To wake up in the morning
Have every joint in your body aching, God damn it?
Do you know what it feels like
To have to get up in the middle of the night and sit down to take a piss?
You do know?
So you say
I have my doubts, Missy
Do you know what it feels like
To have to beg a little bum like you for love?
God damn it you little bitch, I’d kill you if I didn’t love you so much
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
Shut up

Forgive me
My unfocused words
I was flying blind
I lost my mind (Shame Shame Shame)
If you could find it in your heart, if you got one
To forgive me
I'd be ever so grateful (Shame Shame Shame)
Will you stop that please (Shame Shame Shame)
Will you stop that please I’m trying to talk to someone (Shame)
Thank you
You know, I have a Lexus now
I don’t get out much
You know what I’m saying
Come on home

Little Criminals

What you wanna come back here for?
Thought you're with your uptown friends
Don't need none of your junkie business
You gonna screw us up again

Get your blackjack off my table
Get your coat out of my rack
We don't need you 'round here, jerk-off
Chuck, I want you off my back

'Cause we've almost made it
We've almost made it
We've almost made it to the top

Got a gun from Uncle Freddy
Got a station all picked out
Got a plan and now we're ready
Gonna take that station out

So you go on about your business
You just leave use folks alone
We don't need no two-bit junkie
Screwin' up our happy home

'Cause we've almost made it
We've almost made it
We've almost made it to the top

We've almost made it
We've almost made it
We've almost made it to the top

I Miss You

Still in my heart
After all these years
Separated by time
And now by distance
I couldn't allow myself to feel
The loss that I feel right now
As I put this song down

You're far away
And happy I know
And it's a little bit late
Twenty years or so
And it's a little bit cold
For all those concerned
But I'd sell my soul and your souls for a song
So I'll pour my heart out

I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I'm sorry but I do
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I'm sorry but it's true

I want to thank you for the good years
And apologize for the rough ones
You must be laughing yourself sick
Up there in Idaho
But I wanted to write you one
Before I quit
And this one's it

I miss you
I miss you
And I wanted you to know
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
And I still love you so

It's Money That I Love

I don't love the mountains
And I don't love the sea
And I don't love Jesus
He never done a thing for me
I ain't pretty like my sister
Or smart like my dad
Or good like my mama

It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love

They say that money
Can't buy love in this world
But it'll get you a half-pound of cocaine
And a sixteen-year old girl
And a great big long limousine
On a hot September night
Now that may not be love
But it is all right

One, two
It's Money That I Love
Wanna kiss you
Three, four
It's Money That I Love

Used to worry about the poor
But I don't worry anymore
Used to worry about the black man
Now I don't worry about the black man
Used to worry about the starving children of India
You know what I say now about the starving children of India?
I say, "Oh mama"

It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love

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