Ballad of Ray Thomas Lyrics

Well my name is Ray Thomas
A truck north of here
And I'll spin you a tale if you lend me your ear
And ya keep me with a smoke and a beer
Well I'm 65 now and I'm still on the road
Doing locals up north in the snow and the cold
But at night it's back home where I'll drop off my load
And I'll go out to see my Michaela...

And it's Fitzy's in town where us locals do dwell
And the booze treats you right and it's all that they sell
And my girl in the skirt come right over to me
And she serves me a beer, and she's all that I see
Oh Michaela...

Michaela you're a vision to these eyes of mine
And you can talk to me any and every old time
You're the reason I'm still on this earth can't you see?
You're a goddess, a poet, a beauty to me...

Well I killed a man once back in '73
I was a doing a job down in West Tennessee
When a man fell asleep and swerved into the on-coming lane
They all told me I wasn't to blame...

And I turned to the bottle, where I've been ever since
And I ain't coming back 'till I'm no longer blitzed
That boy's body was crushed all the way into his back seat
By my eighteen wheel killer, my hands, and my feet...

And on the hard days she knows and she gives me a smile
And I tell her a joke, and we'll laugh for a while
And she'll keep the beers comin' 'till two or 'till three
And I wrap myself up in my own fantasy
With Michaela...

Michaela, you readin' my mind
It's okay to forget for a while what's behind
And you pardon my sentence with one mischievous line
You make me truck home one more day at a time...
Day at a time...

Well my eldest son, Randy, took off with a shout
And a shot crossed my jaw, and he knocked me clean out
He stood up on his feet, man I taught him to be
With my own swollen knuckles, like my dad did me...
And my two girls they live her in town
They each married a Jones boy, to love they have found
Or at least they'll keep thinkin' till they hit the ground
From a dream that grows old and faded...

And my wife shuts her mouth cause I'm payin' the rent
And I'll beat her like hell, and that's where I'll be sent
For I've known all along since I was born where I'm bound
To a place where I'll no longer hear the sweet sound
Of Michaela...

Michaela, oh angel, you'll turn me around
You're the daughter, and lover, and meaning I've found
And you are not cursed by the Thomas bloodline
You do right know me, and thank your God and thank mine...
Thank mine...

Grew up as a farm-girl, she's paving her way
And it's waitress by night and it's study by day
That she'll soon make a fortune don't come as a surprise
As she takes on the world with invincible eyes...

Oh my blue collar princess, such wit and such grace
As she snaps at the sinners who frequent this place
As they try to caress her, or take a just taste
For I'm sure that she tastes just like honey...

Work now three years at Fitzy's, come May or come June
And the men who come see her, they fill up the room
And we each get a turn at her service divine
As we're poured retribution, one a time
By Michaela...

Michaela, you never will know
The extent your magic to us down below
And Michaela, I'm yours 'till the day that I die
But I know that your future is greater than I...
Greater than I...

Oh, my Michaela...
Yeah...
Yeah, yeah, yeah...