Calloused Tips
Song 1: The Cadence Stop
Well he woke up one morning and he stepped out of bed,
Jonah’s hair was messy and his eyes were blood shot red.
A dreamer with a mind that never got his dreams too far,
The last bastion of truth with a beer gut and his guitar.
He stumbles through his laundry and trips over his shoe,
Cursing off his Pumas as he thinks of what to do.
Fighting off the banks with the last paycheck from grocery store,
Two guitar strings snapped so he needs to go and buy some more.
He puts on his Pumas and he heads off to the Cadence Stop,
The music store he calls his home and knows the people well.
The windows are all boarded up and parking lot is bare,
Blind Willie with his saxophone the only souls around.
‘Blind Willie, what’s going on? I can’t see no business here,
Correct me if I’m wrong, but is this problem so severe?
I see you got your saxophone, but why are you not playin’?,
Isn’t there a reason why nobody is stayin’?’
‘Jonah, I’ll tell you why, the Cadence Stop is shutting down,
As true as you and I, a new feller bought up the town.
He’s a nasty man, dollars addin’ in his head,
He bought up the stores, all the owners been misled.’
So Jonah weighed his options and what he had on hand,
A blind man with a saxophone won’t get you very far.
But add a broke guitarist for a winning pair,
‘Willie, grab your saxophone, let me grab my guitar.’
Song 2: The Last Stop Fill
Walking down the road / a sax and a guitar,
Playing music in between / sleep and flaggin’ cars.
Sun is beating down / they find no shade from trees,
Takin’ it easy on the road / they’ve got nowhere to be.
‘Willie, there’s a sign ahead / I think it’s a place to stay,
We could grab a bite to eat / and hang there for a day.’
‘I don’t like the feeling here / it makes my blood run cold,
And this land is a haunted place / from the stories I been told.’
Jonah laughed before he spoke / ‘Willie, those are lies,
Ghosts as real as I am rich / you can see that without eyes.’
So they walked up to the inn / by the name of ‘Last Stop Fill,’
Looking for food and sleep / maybe work to pay the bill.
The counter looked so empty / it was bare save a bell,
Willie tapped his cane to the floor / and whispered ‘This is hell.’
As if on cue a Man appeared / his suit was blinding white,
His face was new but his eyes were old / and those eyes were dark as night.
‘Welcome to the Last Stop Fill / I hope you enjoy your stay,
Will it be with check or cash / I need to know how you’ll pay.’
‘Is there food to be prepared / or dishes to be done?
You ask for money but I’m sorry to say / I’m afraid that we have none.’
The man frowned and his eyes blazed / but quickly did that pass,
He motioned them to follow him / Willie did not move too fast.
He showed them what the work was / he brought them to their beds,
Said they started tomorrow dawn / and they should rest their heads.
Jonah smiled as he removed his boots / ‘Willie this ain’t too bad,
It’s better than a cacti pillow / which is all we would have had.’
Willie sat silent as a stone / he did not say a word,
He removed his leather jacket / and making sure nobody heard:
‘Jonah, this man is evil / and all his words are lies,
Right now I’m glad I’m blind / so I couldn’t see his eyes.’
Song 3: Jonah’s Work
Sun cracked through the window, Jonah blinks out his eyes,
Finds his way to breakfast met with surprise.
Man was there with a plate of food, and pulled Jonah up a chair,
He sat down, but boy was Jonah scared.
“Jonah, it’s true, I bought a few stores, twenty of the shops in town,
But I bought them up so they wouldn’t shut down.”
Jonah looked at the Man, thinking he really cared,
Willie must have stress more than he could bear.
Slowly Jonah tried the eggs, they were the best he’d ever had,
The Man smiled, “Jonah they’re not half bad.”
“I need a man at the Cadence Stop, cause business there is rough,
If you need cash, it pays more than enough.”
So Jonah weighed his options, and what he had on hand,
“I got a couple questions just to let me understand.”
The Man smiled, “What’d you like to know?”
“Willie needs a job, else he’s got nowhere to go.”
The man let out a sigh, “I’m afraid that there’s no way,
When you own twenty stores, that’s a lot to pay.”
Jonah nodded, Willie would not be mad,
He’d understand that times been pretty bad.
Then Jonah started thinking, times were good before the man,
And maybe all along, Willie did understand.
“I think I’ll have to pass, I got a partner to think about,
Maybe if there’s a job for two, we could talk it out.”
Then those eyes did blaze again, hotter than the sun,
“Jonah don’t you be a fool, you don’t need anyone.”
“But this man needs me, and that need must be returned,
In my line of work, you find trust is always earned.”
The man laughed “You poor fool, your work don’t exist,”
“Maybe not,” said Jonah, “But at least it is honest.”
Willie was waking up, Jonah said “Pack your things,
There’s a road calling both our names, let’s see what it brings.”
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