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Last Train to Memphis

from Destination Unimportant by BeJae Fleming

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lyrics

I’m on the last train to Memphis, I’m feeling old and worn
It’s the sixteenth day of August, it’s the day the king died, it’s the day that you were born
Jesse’s right beside me as the whistle starts blowing
Telling me to step off, telling you to keep going

They say that Jesse did it all for the love of his twin
Set his own life aside so the king could step in
The money-changers cheered, the old folks were alarmed
When they heard the news, a king is born

A king was born on the outskirts of town
To the Pharisees he’s nothing but a hip-shaking clown
But, when the evening falls and the house lights dim
Every song we sing is a memory of him

Last time I saw you on the road you were looking tired and drawn
You said you might slow down as you gunned it to move on
Me and Jesse wished you well as you were headed off to some
Seedy joint you were playing out on Highway 61

The king stirred it up and the preachers spoke of sin
Crowds going wild, the Colonel cashing in
The blues men cursed and the jazz cats cried
But, there wasn’t one among them could have turned this tide

A king was born, wrong side of the tracks
The critics called him just a white boy gone black
But when the curtain falls and the spotlights dim
We don’t remember their names, but we can’t forget him

Me and Jesse caught your show out on Beale Street last night
Everybody was dancing, you were cooking all right
Off in a corner me and Jess raised our glasses high
To the ones who never made it, to the ones left behind

It came as no surprise when the king rolled on
When the last trained pulled away he was already long gone
Me and Jesse slipped away before the whistle blew
We couldn’t bear to hear that lonesome sound we both already knew

A king born below the Mason-Dixon line
Some say he was a profit way ahead of his time
But, when the crowd went home and there was no one else
He never shook the feeling he’d lost part of himself

I’m on the last train to Memphis, I’m feeling old and worn
It’s the sixteenth day of August
It’s the day the king died
It’s the day you were born

credits

from Destination Unimportant, released January 6, 2006

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