The Blue And The Gray Lyrics

he sings the songs about the blue and the gray a confederate hippy i suppose you might say wears a c.s.a. buckle and a pony tail and for thirty five years he's stayed out of jail by singing these sad civil war ballads for snow birds eating shellfish and salads and tourists and hookers who seem joined at the hip and the tourists will stiff him but the whores always tip he sings the songs about the blue and the gray and the battle is still raging in bar rooms today from richmond virginia to mobile l.a. that's lower alabama not californe-i-a the lines have been drawn and the beer has been poured and we all think we're winning, but who's keeping score and if you just got here, you came to late it's all been carved up into real estate he sings the songs about the blue and the gray not the black and white 'cause it ain't pretty that way but he's got a tip jar and if you put a buck in it he might tell you the truth for two or three minutes and you'll be transported from the florida sands there'll be mud on your boots and blood on your hands and you'll start to think that you made a mistake and you'll give him five dollars & say "buddy take a break" it's an up hill struggle, it's a long hard fight please tip your bartender and waitress tonight he sings the songs about the blue and the gray if his wife wasn't working they'd starve on his pay and his eldest son thinks his dad is a racist 'cause he plays country music & lets face it the kid's got a point, the kid might be right &his dad can remember having the same fight with his own father all those years ago the old man saying "boy don't tell me, 'cause you don't know" he sings the song about the blue and the gray as the waitress battles through the crowd with a tray we'll call a cease fire and let the smoke clear so i can look in your eyes for once without fear and see you again just for a moment as my lover and not my opponent and just when i think this war's at an end someone'll light up a cigarette and we'll start it again it's an up hill struggle and it's a long hard fight and please tip your bartender and waitress tonight i sing the songs that go something like this some folks think i'm some kinda redneck communist with a hammer and sickle for my rebel flag but i only got one or two tricks in my bag it's a five string banjo & a mandolin and it ain't enough to get me out of this trouble I'm in but there's one thing i'll say before i take flight and that's please tip your bartender, goodnight it's an up hill struggle, it's a long hard fight please tip your bartender & waitress tonight please tip your bartender, goodnight