Mexicali blues lyrics

Artist  : Grateful dead 
Song : Mexicali blues
 
Laid back in an old saloon, with a peso in my
hand,
Watchin' flies and children on the street,
And I catch a glimpse of black-eyed girls who
giggle when I smile,
There's a little boy who wants to shine my feet.

And it's three days ride from Bakersfield and I
don't know why I came.
I guess I came to keep from payin' dues.
So instead I've got a bottle and a girl who's
just fourteen,
And a damn good case of the Mexicali Blues. Yeh!

Is there anything a man don't stand to lose,
When the devil wants to take it all away?
Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip
on your booze,
Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today.

She said her name was Billy Jean and she was
fresh in town.
I didn't know a stage line ran from Hell.
She had raven hair, a ruffled dress, a necklace
made of gold,
All the french perfume you'd care to smell.

She took me up into her room and whispered in my
ear,
"Go on, my friend, do anything you choose."
Now I'm payin' for those happy hours I spent
there in her arms,
With a lifetime's worth of the Mexicali Blues.

Is there anything a man don't stand to lose,
When the devil wants to take it all away?
Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip
on your booze
Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today.

And then a man rode into town, some thought he
was the law.
Billy Jean was waitin' when he came.
She told me he would take her, if I didn't use my
gun,
I'd have no one but myself to blame.

I went down to those dusty streets, blood was on
my mind.
I guess that stranger hadn't heard the news
Cause I shot first and killed him, Lord, he
didn't even draw
And he made me trade the gallows for the Mexicali
Blues.

Is there anything a man don't stand to lose
When he lets a woman hold him in her hands?
He just might find himself out there on horseback
in the dark
Just ridin' and runnin' across those desert
sands.