Stretch Limo Blues
Get this –
the airport shuttle out of McCarran
is a black stretch limo,
six of us in here, six dollars a hit
all of us new to the city
and joking, Man, man,
ain’t this the style
and won’t the folks outside
be wondering
if we aren’t Guns’n’Roses
or someone rolling in to town to play
Caesar’s or the Mandalay Bay.
the airport shuttle out of McCarran
is a black stretch limo,
six of us in here, six dollars a hit
all of us new to the city
and joking, Man, man,
ain’t this the style
and won’t the folks outside
be wondering
if we aren’t Guns’n’Roses
or someone rolling in to town to play
Caesar’s or the Mandalay Bay.
But, hey, this is Vegas – stretch limos
glide down every street, and who gives a shit –
the cocktail cabinet’s empty,
taunting us with its walnut veneer.
glide down every street, and who gives a shit –
the cocktail cabinet’s empty,
taunting us with its walnut veneer.
Opposite me the old-timer with flipover hair
fiddles with his bag, fetches out a pair of shades,
places them over his big hook nose, rheumy eyes –
fiddles with his bag, fetches out a pair of shades,
places them over his big hook nose, rheumy eyes –
now he’s serene and beautiful
as an 80-odd-year-old can be,
dressed in black silk
wearing a gold rock
big as a bomb
on his wedding finger.
as an 80-odd-year-old can be,
dressed in black silk
wearing a gold rock
big as a bomb
on his wedding finger.
He drums on the quilted upholstery
keeping time to Jim Morrison’s beat –
keeping time to Jim Morrison’s beat –
break on through to the other side
And I’m just beginning to figure things out:
I’ve left the Chrysler at Thrifty
I’m staying clear of casinos today
I’m heading downtown to the Greyhound
to learn this nugget of American reality –
I’m staying clear of casinos today
I’m heading downtown to the Greyhound
to learn this nugget of American reality –
No car
No-
body
No-
body
I watch a cactus passing
through the mirror of his shades
surprised to find myself in there –
my swollen reflection
through the mirror of his shades
surprised to find myself in there –
my swollen reflection
and see how almost overnight
my arm has grown so rich with silver hair.