Keys on the corner - Soul Blues Icon
There's a pile of keys
on the corner of pine
rusty old fobs
no reason or sign
They say old Lou left them
back in '79
after his baby took the Cadillac and his spine
He played harp for the county blues band
lost his ring finger in a fan ceiling fan
He'd jangle those keys when the notes ran dry
like each one unlocked a reason to cry
Keys on the corner
clanking the past
each one a door
to a love that ain't last
One for his mama
one for his bail
one for the bus
that carried his mail
Yeah them keys don't open no more doors
But Lou still guards them like forgotten wars
Kids used to ask
what's that gold one for
He said that's the one
I never used before
It's the key to a house
I dreamed in vain
where the floor ain't leaking from the rain
Then one night Lou just walked away
left the keys and his blues
with the alley swains
Now every time the wind starts moaning
them keys start ringing
like he's still at home in
Keys on the corner
rattling sin
each one a chapter
he carried within
One for a girl
named Claudine Ray
she kissed him once
then ran away
They don't unlock nothing
but they still sing
of a man
who lost everything
but the ring