A friend of mine plays bass in a “cover” band. They were playing at a local restaurant / road house last night and it was a great time. We stayed for two of their three sets. One of the songs they played, was by a Canadian folk singer, turned environmentalist soft-rocker, Bruce Cockburn. The song was one of his very early songs with blues roots, “Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse, All Night Long.” As I said, a very fun evening.

I was up the road on easy street
Watching everybody stand around and cheat
A man comes up and says,
“Move along Down to the corner where you belong”
But mama just wants to barrelhouse all night long

I hear the city singing like a siren choir
Some fool tried to set this town on fire
TV preacher screams “come on along”
I feel like Fay Wray face to face with King Kong
But mama just wants to barrelhouse all night long

I hear the city singing like a siren
Sometimes I wonder what I am I feel like I’m living in a hologram
It doesn’t seem to matter what’s right or wrong
Everybody’s grabbing and coming on strong
But mama just wants to barrelhouse all night long