The Dozens

Herring Caroline

I had a few more questions 
I never knew to ask 
You were feeling downhearted 
The last time we parted 
With a shock of 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 

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