My Auntie Mabel
1953
Left her Minnesota dirt farm
To see what she could see
In a letter to her mother
Telling her what she enjoyed
Said there's nothing
In the whole wide world
Like a city boy
1987
Took Daddy's Cadillac
I drove it to Chicago
Never brought it back
Well all these years later
I'm still unemployed
Oh well there's nothing
In the whole wide world
Like a city boy
My granddaddy
Had long grey hair
Silver cane
And a rocking chair
Tapped that cane
On a wooden floor
Saying
"Take what you're given
And then ask for more"
Well now, baby
What do you think of that
Can you make a woman
Out of an alley cat
Can you take the agitation
And not get annoyed
Oh well there's nothing
In the whole wide world
Like a city boy
Now my Auntie Mabel
She plays the dominoes
Way down South
Where the yucca plant grows
Drinking whiskey
Out of Coca-Cola bottles
Smoking Viceroys
Still swears there's nothing
In the whole wide world
Like a city boy
Those city boys
