out law country...

The Wine of Dreams

Well, two tweakers high on crystal
Snapped and pulled some pawnshop pistols
In a roadhouse down in Alabam’
When I whupped those sonsabitches
They both needed forty stitches
And I got forty days there in the slam
Lawman caught a lady sneakin’ me some wine
I just closed my eyes and journeyed through my time

Cos a lotta mean ole southern judge’s gavels
Echo through the mem’ry of my lonely travels
I’m a mad dog brawler and a midnight brooder
And I love to shoot the [naughty word removed] with old crapshooters
Scarin’ cops who print me and then take my mugshot
‘neath fluorescent light my shadow’s almost bloodshot
Sat there in my cell and pushed away my beans
Wasn’t hungry while drinking from the wine of dreams

Well, that stretch just made me tougher
All the knocks that I will suffer
Will just pound the dents out from my faith
But since then I’ve slowed my drinkin’
All that booze once had me thinkin’
That the Holy Ghost was really just a wraith
Though I looked for God down ev’ry dusty mile
It was often sin that made the search worthwhile

Cos I sure as hades did my share of whorin’
Slammin’ ev’ry shot an old barkeep was pourin’
While the amber current of a bourbon river
Slowly ate away the levee of my liver
If I quit I’d find a stripper when I’d relapse
Leave them barroom queens with rugburns on their kneecaps
But God forgives and blood redeems
So I’m drinking from the wine of dreams

Now I’ll picture time’s relentless falling sands
Landing in the space between my wishes and my plans
Think of jails and churches…won’dring where I’ll be
Somewhere in the middle…Jesus, there I’ll be

Each night death is closer if you’re watchin’ closely
And your past just hangs behind you pale and ghostly
So I’ll toast my sister up in Amarillo
With a fading yellow ribbon in her willow
And the Key West dolphins that’ll follow sailboats
And an old time Baptist preacher with a swallow tail coat
Sometimes I drink of prayer and sometimes Jim Beam
But tonight I’m drinking from the wine of dreams

©2009 Robert George

The wine of dreams... I love the title :-)

"While the amber current of a bourbon river
Slowly ate away the levee of my liver"
I've never read a more poetic way to describe drinking oneself to death ;-) Put like that (and picturing it played on a guitar), it paint quite a romantic picture...:-)

Why has no one else responded to this amazing song? i love your clever rhymes, poetic imagery mixed with tough-guy diction. I suppose the pros will say it's too long, but I like it. The rug burns and the deleted word might keep it off the radio, but it would be great at a concert!
Cheers!
Pam Bowen

thanks gals.