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.
