lifeblood: socs: 1994-12-20: chickenman (symphony hall - atlanta, georgia)

chickenman (11:03) (listen)

**********

amy ray starting at the 4:28 mark:

this is the saga
of southern road kill
hmm
i thought well we uh
we used to drive around
in this small car with the pa system in the back and
and i used to put my hand over my eyes whenever
we drove past dead things
opossums, cats, dogs, deer
even if i was driving i was, i was
i thought when we got into a tour bus that i wouldn't have to worry about it
but now i just wear ear plugs in my bunk so i can't hear other people talking
yeah
we don't get anything
any control
yeah
so anyway
this song is about this trip we were taking when
we were on this tour
it was kinda about a five minute tour i think
and um
it skips around a little bit (laughs)
but we end up in houston
and we're playing at this small little club
called fitzgerald's
fitzgerald's yeah
and we were in the downstairs
where they put the small bands
you know
we were a small band
there were about three people there
and we spent the night at a this house
owned by the owner of fitzgerald's
and he was kind enough to let us sleep on the floor
and then we realized why
it was like this
this house where everybody slept on the floor (laughs)
so
it was really weird
rock and roll
and loud music
and women and drugs and all this stuff going on around us
and we were just like
"we gotta get out of here we gotta get out of here we gotta get out of here we gotta get out of here"
so we got out
and um
we drove up to austin the next day
and on the way
by the side of the road was a flea market and
we stopped and we went to the flea market
and when we looked next door
and there was this big yard with all these trailers all around and
tables and stuff spread out all over the tables and
it was really cool
i have to say
and we were
we were kinda weary
emily was asleep as a matter of fact
she was so weary she was asleep
and i was looking for something to make me feel good
you know
so i thought flea market stuff would do it
so i'm looking through all this stuff
and i'm going through books
looking at calendars
and bicycle parts
and things like that
and this old guys walks out from the trailer
and he's got
really long hair
and he's all
black and brown with
dirt and stuff like that
and you can't really see his eyes
he looks like robinson crusoe
and um
i held up something and i said "how much is this"
and he said "that's not for sale"
i said "how much is this"
"it's not for sale"
i said "why"
and he said "cause this is my yard and this is all my stuff"
yeah
sings: so i was on the road to austin
sings: and i met a man on the highway
sings: he sold me junk and conversation
and i looked up in the sky and there was this big sign that said chickenman
sings: and he was wise and weary from the weather...