Lyrics to Turkey in the Straw (Public Domain)

        As y’all know “Turkey in the Straw” is a public domain tune, which means it has been around so long it belongs to all of us. (like me) Bet you didn’t know it has words.

       Truth is as far as I know it didn’t until today. I’m making this up as I go along. This is a fine strategy for an artist; I do not recommend that approach for the doctor aspect of life. Better to know what you are doing ahead of time in that gig.

        Anyway, here’s the chorus. Y’all feel free to chime in with a verse if you like. Just remember this is a public forum and “Turkey in the Straw” is a public domain song, so if you hear someone sing it in Tuscon next year, all you get is the satisfaction to know you are a part of the extended bluegrass family. To me, that’s enough, and this Thanksgiving I find myself more thankful than ever for the privilege.

Turkey in the Straw (Chorus)

Turkey’s in the oven… turkey’s in the straw
That’s as fine a turkey….  as I ever saw
Taters are a sizzling…… and the gravy’s in the pan
Have a cup of coffee, stay for supper if you can.

        Y’all have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Dr. B

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Tarmack Tears

        I knew a man whose wife left him for some Italian fellow.  He was bluegrass.  She was, well….. let’s just say she got above her raising.  He’s remarried now, and doing well. 

        One day he recalled how she said she was so sorry, but he thought her tears were likely gone before the plane took off.  If occurred to me if his wife had been bluegrass it never woulda happened; she’d a taken a train.  

        The more I thought about it, I decided there needed to be a few more bluegrass jet plane songs.  The trains dominate the genre, and rightly so.  As somone wrote, there ain’t nothing romantic about a tarmack.  There wasn’t much romantic about this guy’s first wife either, so it fits.

‘Tarmack Tears’

CHORUS

Tarmack tears
They took flight today
Tarmack tears
Dried up right away
Tarmack tears
Ain’t like a railroad song
The thing about these tarmack tears
Is they won’t last too long

VERSE ONE

She called the house to tell me
She’d booked a flight to Rome
She said there warn’t nothing left
To keep her here at home
She met some guy Italian
From his hairdo to his shoes
Ain’t nothing ‘talian bout me ‘cept the day old pizza blues

CHORUS

VERSE TWO

I walked her through the turnstile
She shed a tear or two
At a gift shop stop she somehow got
Stricken with the blues
Bought her one last Starbucks
And put her on the plane
I hope she bought a one way flight  And don’t come home again

CHORUS

VERSE THREE

What she don’t know is when she’s gone
I’m gonna be just fine
The high pitched whine of a jet turbine
Don’t tug this heart of mine
Like the lonely moan late at night
Of the old steam whistle blues
That stirs my soul some sad way  She ain’t never knew

CHORUS

Dr. B

O.K.  Get on me for being silly if you want, but I see enough bad stuff in my work.  For me music is just pure fun and an escape from the reality of the Doctor world.

Dr. B

Coffee Song

       Last night’s jam session brought these words to mind.  (Bluegrass people love coffee)

 

Coffee Song

VERSE ONE

Cook up the morning coffee, and not the decaf kind

I don’t care what brand’s on hand as long as it satisfies

For to percolate right after playing all night

And keep the cobwebs from my mind

It seems to be it’ll have to be that high test blend of mine

CHORUS

Two more cups of coffee,  and I’ll be good to go

Put on another pot of that mud, in hopes that I might know

How to find a way to start my day and go where I need to go

Two more cups of coffee and I’ll be good to go

VERSE TWO

Some folks always ruin the taste by doctoring with sugar and cream

Or add some new-fangled flavor they’ve found

Like nothing I’ve ever seen

Special moments for me can simply be poured up from an old tin can

So make mine straight, stout and black and as strong as you can stand

CHORUS

VERSE THREE

Some folks say if you drink too much

It might be bad for you

But Doc won’t leave the house for work without he has a cup or two

It keeps you alert, helps the brain, and circulation too

So pour me up more java mama and I’ll be good as new

Dr. B    (BMI)