Mean Eyed Cat

(album: Unchained - 1996)

I gave my woman half my money at the general store,
I said, "Now buy a little groceries and don't spend no more."
But she paid ten dollars for a ten cent hat,
And bought some store-bought cat food for that mean-eyed cat.

When I woke up this morning and I turned my head,
There wasn't a cotton picking thing on her side of the bed.
I found a little ol' note, where her head belonged.
It said, "Dear John, honey, baby, I'm long gone."

When I heard a whistle blowing and the big wheels a-turning,
I was scared as I could be.
I put on my overalls and I headed to town.
Gonna bring her back with me.

I asked the man down at the station if he'd seen her there.
I told him all about her pretty eyes and long, blonde hair.
He spit his tobacco, said, "I'll be dad blamed,
I believe I did see her leaving on the east-bound train."

I bought a round-trip ticket on the east bound train,
I was broke as I could be,
But when I come back, I gotta buy another ticket,
Gonna bring her back with me.

Well, I got off the train somewhere in Arkansas,
And I worked up the guts to call my mother-in-law,
She said, "I'll tell you where she is, if you act right.
She's working four-to-twelve at Trucker's World tonight."

Well, when I walked in she saw me and she took off her apron,
And she grabbed her goin'-home hat
She bought a ticket with her tips. Now we're curled up on the sofa,
Me and her and that mean-eyed cat.