Thomas Anderson

singer, songwriter, rock 'n' roller

Bill Haley in Mexico

by Thomas Anderson

from the album Blues for the Flying Dutchman

I could feel the wheels upon the tracks below,

I could hear the words the tongues I did not know;

And the taste of dust was in my mouth

And the rusty rails took us farther south

Staring down the noonday desert sun.

I was wired up tight from the show the night before,

Doing God knows what 'til it left me on the floor;

I was seeing visions I could've sworn

I could see my life in the bell of a horn

I was laughing running fast as I could run.

And I wanted to know, I wanted to know

What happened to Bill Haley down in Mexico.

Tampico shone like diamonds on the sea,

Halfway through the set something's coming over me;

You're just crazy gringos with your jungle beat

They shut it down and you're on the street

And you're 500 miles beyond the law.

And I wanted to know, I wanted to know

What happened to Bill Haley down in Mexico.

     And I would be home but to pay the bills,

     And the money takes you where the money will,

     Where they know your name and they're listening still.

So the desert blooms like a fever or a dream,

And the sun burns down in waves of mescaline;

I could've been on Bandstand with brand-new wax,

Could've been in Europe as a headline act,

Or back in Oklahoma with my mind intact.

But I wanted to know, I wanted to know

What happened to Bill Haley down in Mexico.