Johnny Ryall

Album: Paul's Boutique (1989)
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  • (Oh, the wine cooler)

    Johnny Ryall is the bum on my stoop
    I gave him fifty cents to buy some soup
    He knows the time with the fresh Gucci watch
    He's even more over than the mayor Ed Koch
    Washing windows on the Bowery at a quarter to four
    'Cause he ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
    Livin' on borrowed time and borrowed money
    Sleepin' on the street there ain't a damn thing funny
    With the hand-me-down food and hand-me-down clothes
    A rockabilly past of which nobody knows
    Makes his home all over the place
    He goes to sleep by falling down on his face
    Sometimes known as the leader of the homeless
    Sometimes drunk, man the kid's always phoneless
    Sleepin' on the street in a cardboard box
    He's better off drinkin' than smokin' the rocks
    Johnny Ryall, Johnny Ryall
    Kickin' uptown, kickin' downtown, kickin' crosstown
    Johnny Ryall, Johnny Ryall

    He drinks where he lies
    He's covered with flies
    He's got the hand me down Pumas and the tie dyes
    Well, you go upstate and get your head together
    Thunderbird is the word and you're light as a feather
    Detox at the flop house no booze allowed
    Remember the good old days with the rockabilly crowd
    Memphis is where he's from (out in Tennessee)
    He lives in the street but he's no bum
    He's the rockabilly star from the days of old
    He used to have teeth all filled with gold
    He got platinum voice but only gold records
    On the bass (was Boots), on the drums (was Checkers)
    Louis Vuitton with the Gucci guitar
    Johnny Ryall
    Who do you think you are?
    Johnny Ryall, Johnny Ryall
    Takin' the night train, drinkin' O.E
    Johnny Ryall, Johnny Ryall
    One, two, three, four
    One, two, three, four
    One, two, three, four
    One, two, three

    Donald Trump and Donald Tramp living in the men's shelter
    Wonder Bread bag shoes and singing "Helter Skelter"
    He asks for a dollar you know what it's for
    Man, bottle after bottle he'll always need more
    He's no less important than you working class stiffs
    He drinks a lot of liquor but he don't drink piss
    He paid his dues playing the blues
    He claims that he wrote the Blue Suede Shoes
    Elvis shaved his head when he went into the army
    That's right y'all his name is Johnny
    Kick it
    Johnny Ryall, Johnny Ryall Writer/s: Adam Horovitz, Adam Nathaniel Yauch, John Robert King, Matt Dike, Michael Louis Diamond, Michael S. Simpson
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

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