Honeydripper Page #5

A man eat a rabbit,

might as well eat a rat.

Simple country n*gger,

afraid to sit down and lose

a little handful of change.

He awful big to mess with.

Don't scare me none.

I'm a stepping razor, man.

I'm trouble on two legs.

Your draw, Junebug. Don't be

dripping no sweat on my cards.

HONKING:

Excuse me folks!

Look here!

Y'all heard about the show

we puttin' on at the Honeydripper.

Saturday night.

We got Guitar Sam!

I expect there'll be a nice turnout

for Bertha Mae tomorrow.

Yes, folks who wouldn't have nothing

to do with her when she was alive.

Some of them, maybe.

Still got to pay your respects.

That Slick is gonna have

to find him a new ride.

That's a terrible thing to say.

That's how the man gets over,

is all.

Always sugaring up to some woman

who's got a job or a bankroll.

That's no way to live.

Society is in whirl, baby.

A man's gotta walk through the gates

of hell to get a piece of cheese.

Not so young any more...

...Lose hold of what little he's got.

If you lose the club,

I'm sure you'll find something else.

In this town, like what?

You know, any time you want,

I could get Miss Amanda to ask...

Watch your feet, Mr Mayor!

I just done mopped the floor.

Ty, you work so hard at the lodge,

but what you bring in is...

Not even as much as you make

polishing that white lady's silver.

I didn't say that.

You didn't have to.

It'll just have to work out, then.

Meeting gonna start

and I'm not there.

Your soul's not the one

needs saving, baby.

It's all gonna be fine, Daddy.

Everybody in town talking about

Guitar Sam coming to Harmony.

# As I walked

all along this highway

# I was seeking

# My Lord each day

# She left me standing

# Out on this highway

# Oh, just wondering

which way I must go

# She left me standing

# Out on this highway

# Oh, just wondering

which way I must go. #

Amen! Amen! Sing on, choir!

Amen! Let the church say Amen.

Amen!

Let the church say Amen! Amen!

Amen!

Amen!

She left him standing

out on the highway,

wondering which way to go.

Yeah.

The highway of life.

Sisters and brothers, it will twist

you and it will turn ya.

It will run you this-a-way,

and it will run you that-a-way.

Yeah.

Tempt you with many a detour.

Yeah.

Because the highway of life

is designed to lead us astray.

Yeah.

That's not the road that we want

to be on, brothers and sisters.

That's not the path

that we need to follow.

We need to be on that other road.

We need to be on that road

that leads to glory.

We need to be on that road

that leads to the right hand of God.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# That thoroughfare

I'm talking about

# That righteous road

we need to travel

# It's called the highway to heaven

# It is called

the highway to heaven

# But we need to know,

sisters and brothers

# We need to know

Who is walking beside ya.

# You got to be wary of who

is tryin'

# To hold you back

from your journey

# Cos many a loved ones

got to be left behind

# Cos even on the road,

you're lost in the wilderness

# You're either headin' for glory

or you're doomed for damnation

# You're either with the Lord

or you're with the devil.

# And there ain't no in-between.

# No, no,

there ain't no in-between. #

Praise the Lord!

APPLAUSE:

Charleston. Yeah.

Tulsa. Tulsa ain't so bad.

But for the spit.

Got them stockyards near the jail.

Them flies.

Course, I had me in a cell

in Georgia once.

Six other men,

didn't have a one doing tall.

Must've got caught hoppin' Yeah.

Ain't no free ride

allowed through Georgia.

And the food there? Paltry.

Paltry ain't the word for it.

Breakfast is a joke.

And lunch is a rumour...

And dinner was a anecdote!

Do it the hard way, brother!

You got locked in that box.

Or one just like it.

# Wake up in the morning

# Hear the bing bong ring

# Walk up to the table

# See the same damn thing

# What am I gonna tell you

# Fork, a knife, and a pan

# If you say a thing about it

# You in trouble with the man.

# Let the Midnight Special

# Shine its light on me

# Well, let the Midnight Special

# Shine its ever-loving light

on me. #

You a singer, young man?

Yeah, I'm a singer.

I'm a guitar player.

I'm gonna be on the radio someday,

people are gonna know my name.

You keep on thinking

that way, young man.

If Judge Gatlin don't choose

to work you into your grave,

you just might do it.

# If you ever go to Houston

# Don't you stagger

Don't you fight

# Cos the sheriff will arrest you

# You're in the cooler

for the night

# He'll tie your hands together

# And he'll bring you down

# Throw you in the black river

# Penitentiary bound. #

# Early this morning

# I heard the lonesome

church bell toll

# Early this morning

# I heard the low down

church bell toll

# It brought me the sad news

# My Bertha Mae was dead and gone

# Never miss my baby

# I never missed her

till she left my door... #

First, he passed away,

and the seed was no more...

# I never missed my baby

# Until she left my door

# It breaks my heart

# Think I never see her face

no more. #

He will dwell within, he will

wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death shall be no more, mourning

and dying and pain shall be no more.

To the first things

that passed away,

I am the Alpha and the Omega,

the beginning and the end...

I hear tell Miss Bertha Mae passed.

That's right.

Yeah, she lived it.

Just like she sang it.

You waiting on somebody?

Ain't nobody on that train

gonna change your luck, Tyrone.

You're gonna have to save

your own self.

What do you know about anything?

Oh, nothing much.

But I know you.

From way back.

GUITAR STRUMS:

# Mm...

# Oh...

# Oh

TRAIN HORN BLOWS

TRAIN HORN CONTINUES

Mournful end for a wayward sinner.

She always seemed

at peace with herself.

The company she kept?

The life she lived?

I never know Bertha Mae

to do hurt to a living soul.

We're all hoping to see you get over

and accept the Lord tonight,

Delilah.

I'm hoping so too.

You've been lingering at

the threshold long enough, sister.

Time to step ahead.

Tyrone! You got somebody

getting off here?

Supposed to be. Well,

what's the party's name?

Sam? Guitar Sam.

Don't know his birth name.

He's coming here? Uh-huh.

Yo, Matt!

Guitar Sam get on this train?

Nah, man, he's in the hospital

back in Little Rock.

Hospital? You know music folks.

Whatever he was doing, he must

have been doing too much of it.

Brother, maybe... Maybe he

come on in tomorrow, huh?

Matt!

All aboard!

Somebody didn't show up!

We should have made you dumb

instead of blind.

# I done had my fun

# If I don't get well no more

# I said, I done had my fun

# If I don't get well no more

# My head is spinning

# And I's going down real slow. #

A man don't take care of himself...

...With drinking and jazz and women

every night.

Don't make no difference now.

It got so bad,

I heard there was this old boy goes

round pretending to be Guitar Sam.

Fill out the gigs he misses.

He does pretty well for himself,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes