John Mellencamp Album

Well west of Zion
They got a hot spot brewing
Handcuffs and kisses
For the people who live there

Guitar player's playing
Cinderella saying
Hey boys get that spoon to my nose
And we'll run through the midnight air

[Chorus:]
Night, night, whoa night dancin'
Hey just a little, little, little night dancin'
Night, night, whoa night dancin'
Hey just a little, little, little night dancin'

Sodom and Gomorah
They run the roadhouse
They keep everything jumping
As the drummer keeps the beat

And it's really something when those kids start bitchin'
Yeah it starts me itching
As I jump to my feet to go

[Chorus 2x]

Two veteran lovers french kiss in the doorway
Their ears are cold but their hearts are so warm
A country band playin' down the street just a little ways
They're whiskey wild, they keep it up until dawn

[Chorus:]
Small Paradise
I glad to see everything's alright with you
Alright then hold me tight - kiss me
Small Paradise

A neon sign blinks outside in the pouring rain
It's ladies night free drinks until 10
Some people walk on by, hey girl don't
I know you, won't you come on in
Well it ain't love but it ain't bad

[Chorus 2x]

Well I hear in Miami they have a lot of girls
Who toast their flesh in the sun
Living on allowances they receive from the old man at home
To keep up appearances to have fun

[Chorus:]
Hey baby
Living in Miami
I know you're hip to those hotel alibis
I know you're nowhere near twenty
But I ain't the kind to kiss and tell or tell lies

Well they are easy to look at, they are hard to hold
They have high opinions of themselves
But at night you can find them drinking in the bar
Wishing that they could find somebody else

[Chorus]

Well they pull and tug on their high fashion clothes
As they strip off their armor in their apartment bedrooms
They wish that somewhere they can find a spark
Well their sights and visions and dreams are set high
They think the world can be won with a smile
I hear 'em giggle out loud, lost in the crowd
Give me a cuddle when we get outside

[Chorus]

Hey baby
Living in Miami
I know you're hip to those hotel alibis
I know you're nowhere near twenty
But I ain't the kind to kiss and tell or tell lies

Everything is slower here, everybody's got a union card
They get up on Sunday and go to church of their choice
Come back home cook out in the backyard

And they call this the Great Midwest
Where the cornfields row and flow
They're all 5 years ahead of their time
Or 25 behind, I just don't know

All the young men talk about their 4 wheel drives
And how much money they're gonna make on Friday night
And, they like to brag about how they mistreat their girlfriends
Hey, let's get drunk, party it up, start a fight

And they call this the Great Midwest
Sure make a hell of a car
And the old hearts, they race their way through the night
The upheaval of who they really are

Growin' up under normal conditions, television and radio
That's just about all of this whole world
That any of us get to see, get to know

And they call this the Great Midwest
Where you sacrifice your body and soul
And no one really wants to get even
Most of us find it hard enough just lettin' go

Don't get me wrong I ain't complaining
I ain't braggin' nor do I mean to place blame
That's just the way things are around here
And there's a future carryin' my name on it
Sayin' hey man, you gonna stick around here you better get on it
If you're gonna stick around here you better make yourself some real good friends

Well I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth
So I can't talk about the big city life
But if you wanna talk about bein' bored and runnin'
Away from yourself, hell I talk to you all night

And they call this the Great Midwest
Where livin' is just gettin' by
And people trade in their happiness
For a smokestack, a big money deal in the sky

Well I see you've got a new boyfriend
Got your mixed up husband too
I got 25 dollars in my pocket
Want me to spend it all on you
But I know that you cheat on all of us
That's just the way that you do
Hey, girl, I don't care where you've been
I know, I've been there too

[Chorus:]
Woo, woo baby, Do you think that's fair?
Do we really have to be so lonely and so scared
Woo, woo baby, Do you think that's fair?
Well I know this is up to me and you
We make this thing turn out like we want to
Well, last time I thought about you
Didn't really think that much
And the last time we spoke you said
You were afraid of my touch
And then you went your way
I stumbled down a highway, I went mine
You know, I think it's funny the
Way infatuation gets beat up by the time

[Chorus]

Well I see your life has evolved
Into one big masquerade
And all of those old fools you used to run to
They shot you full of old age
Well, don't go expecting too much no, no
From this new love affair
Probably fall flat on its face
No one to pick you up, no one who cares

[Chorus]

I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
Some girl that knows the meaning of a
Hey hit the highway

Well I've been walkin' the streets up and down
Racing through the human jungles at night
I'm so confused, my mind is indifferent
Hey I'm so weak, won't somebody shut off that light

Electricity runs through the video
And I watch it from this hole I call home
All the stony's are dancin' to the radio
And I got the world calling me up here
Tonight on the phone

I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
Some girl to thrill me and then go away
I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
Some girl that knows the meaning of a
Hey hit the highway

Well I'm not wiped out by this poolroom life I'm living
I'm gonna quit this job, go to school, or head back home
And I'm not askin' to be loved or be forgiven
I just can't face shakin' in this bedroom
One more night alone

I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
Some girl that knows the meaning of a
Hey hit the highway

I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
Some girl to thrill me and then go away
I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
Some girl that knows the meaning of a
Hey hit the highway
You Bet Cha

In the cool of the evening
I don't know the reason
But I long to touch
Some young tender hearts sometimes
So I go to this party
With a bunch of me hardies
They say don't get too cute
Don't get too smart
'Cause these people are crazy
They toot coke and drink wang-too
And they talk in some crazy tongue
There's a slit-eyed lady
Say'n don't you be so stupid
I may be old but I'm still good fun
Still good fun
Yeah I'm still good fun

Well I ain't that choosy
I'll flip-flop with a floozy
If I figure there's no strings attached
But sometimes I loose my feet
Underneath the back seat
And I have to fly my heart at half mast
Well this old bitty
She was smart and she was witty
She was really out of control you know
It was stumble or fall
I had my back to the wall
I didn't know to bet on win, place or show

[Chorus:]
Welcome to Chinatown, she said
I'm gonna lay your body down, she said
I ain't no queen, but I'm wearin' this crown
She said
Welcome to Chinatown
Welcome to Chinatown

Well she shimmered and she shook
What she wanted she took
She shook like some rickshaw ride
She stuck her fingers down my throat
'Till I almost choked
I thought I'd gone heaven and died
Well she took me by the ear
And said what do you want to hear boy
You want to hear those crazy old lies
I said nothing you can say girl
Can drive me away
Just check my complexion
Make sure I'm still alive

[Chorus:]
Welcome to Chinatown, she said
I'm gonna lay your body down, she said
I ain't no queen, but I'm wearin' this crown
She said
Welcome to Chinatown
Welcome to Chinatown
Welcome to Chinatown
Welcome to Chinatown

Well I'm all gassed up
The Car is waitin' outside
I got three more hours on this loser's job
And then I'll be ready to ride
I got this cowboy comin' with me
This guy's name is Jeffrey Jack
He can shoot the eyes out of a pool ball
He can get the young girls into the sack
We'll go down to the dance hall
Locals will be kickin' up their heels
They'll be drinkin' tequila sunrises
Until the morning light fills up the window sills

[Chorus:]
And then I'll be with Sugar Marie
She's the only girl I know that can make me forget about me
Come on and dance with me Sugar Marie
She don't ask me any questions when it's time to leave
She works down at the truck stop
Where she polishes the spoons
She gets colas and burgers for the boys
On those hot summer afternoons
She's got this girlfriend named Linda
Linda's got a tattoo that says Christ
Well she ain't half bad to talk to
And I reckon she looks pretty nice
We'll drive down to the dance hall
Sittin' there waitin' on me
Jesus, you know it feels pretty good
And sometimes I need some good ole company

[Chorus]

She don't ask any questions
And she don't flirt with the other boys
She belongs to me Sugar Marie

I never thought I needed no one
I can make a big enough mess myself
Oh, but when I finally found someone
She made me respect myself
Dance for me Sugar Marie

[Chorus]

Hey girl I wish we could tear the heart
Out of this old town tonight

God gave Moses a few little rules
And he said I want you to pass them around
Take a look at those old tools
I can't believe the shit that's going down
You're supposed to have a good time
But I think you take it a little too far
Watchin' your life in vista-vision
A monkey on your back, a brand new car

Well Shakespeare threw down his pencil,
Said I think I'm gonna start layin' brick
Too much of this Romeo stuff enough to make
Anybody sick
"To be or not to be," I mean what's that supposed to mean
I'm changin' my image tomorrow
Be a groupie, make the scene

[Chorus:]
Pray for me if you want to
If you don't want to don't stay
Somebody shot the Vicar and the minister's on his way
Sellin' open legs on the corner
Punchin' Judy workin' uptown
Pray for me if you want to
Before some fool shoots you down

The man in the cage is always for freedom
The way of the transgressor is hard
Cain and Abel and their old man
Playin' croquet in the back yard
Two guys beat up the sole survivor
Up beat on the back street
I don't really want to get involved
Won't someone help me to my feet.

[Chorus]

Oh yeah
Well she started out, just to be a dancer
Gonna make her livin' dancin'
In the Broadway shows
So she hitchhiked cross the country
From Pasaroba to the Big Red Apple
Where your dreams are made
Your debts must be paid on time

Well she wasn't used to livin' in the city
So she took a job cleanin' up as a maid
At the Grammercy Park Hotel
And all her auditions
They didn't turn out so pretty
So she took a job dancin'
At the bar down the street as well

[Chorus:]
I'll hold you close, Taxi Dancer
And I'll listen to how your outgrew your dreams
How they faded away
I'll hold you close, Taxi Dancer
We can pretend this floor is the Broadway stage

Well I don't know how long or how far
Her fortune did take her
But I heard she sits alone drunk
In a bar downtown on 42nd Street
And sometimes an old Butch
Will slip a quarter into the jukebox
And she'll stagger to the bar
And dance with that girl for free

[Chorus]

Oh the stage, baby