Cletis Carr - Talking St. Kilda Blues Lyrics
I first met Louie in 1986 he was hanging around St. Kilda, down by the pierWe got to talking about politics and injusticeLouie said let's go across to the Esplanade and have a beerThe barmaid was Annie, at least I think that was her nameI ordered a VB stubby, Louie ordered the sameThen he turned to me with a crazy grinAnd said, man, I'm gonna tell you something I ain't told nobodyLouie gazed around the bar, slowly, like he was looking for someone he knewAnd then lowered his voice and spoke without moving his mouth muchThe way Humphrey Bogart used to doHe said, everybody got a secret, they got something to hideBut me, I'm a little different, you see, I just killed this guyAnd then our eyes met for just a second, and I knew he was seriousI knew I was a little scaredI whispered, so why'd you kill him anywayAnd then I looked around to see if anyone had heardLouie said, it was over this gambling debt thing, he got all my moneyAnd all I got was his wordCause they'll always rip you off, it's just a matter of whenSome do it with a gun, man, some do it with a penLouie put down his beer and smiledAnd said, you shoulda seen the look on that guy's face, I was glad I hadn'tI finished my beer and said, look, I gotta runLouie said, hey, can I get a lift, there's some people I gotta meetSo we walked out and got in my old FalconStarted it up and headed up Fitzroy StreetLouie pulled out a matchbook, on the back someone drewA map and an address, somewhere out in KewAnd Louie said, I'll bet we can get there in ten minutesI said, no thanks, I don't bet, not anymore anywaySo we pulled up to this house, there were no lights on, it was all blackAnd Louie opened the car door and said come on in for a minuteYou gotta see this talking dog they got out backAnd I said, what? He said, they got a talking dog out backSo I forgot about that other thing and got out of the carAnd followed Louie up to the houseLouie knocked on the heavy old door, slowly creaked open like it wasn't latchedWe went inside a couple of steps, it was pitch black, Louie said, you got a matchAnd I gave him oneThen he lit it up, I could see the back doorJust getting a look at that dog was all that I came forSo I left Louie in the hallway and went out to check out the back yardThen I stepped out in the grassIt looked like it hadn't been mowed in at least a yearAnd out in the middle sat this old spotted mongrelWith three legs and one earI knew right then I'd been taken for a foolWhy this dog couldn't talk, it just sat there and drooledJust then I heard a couple voices coming from inside the houseAnd one of them was Louie'sSo I listened closely, trying to hear what was being saidBut all I could make out was something about not really being deadAnd then I heard a shot, something hit the floorMan, I ain't ever been this scared beforeThen a deep voice behind me said, come on, there's a gate around the sideLet's get out of here – and I ran like hellThen I jumped in my old Falcon, fired it up and put the pedal straight to the floorMan, I did a hundred and ten through Hawthorn, through CaulfieldHit the Princes Highway, I didn't stop til I got to the ocean shoreThen I let out a sigh, sat back in the seatAlmost jumped through the roof when I saw that dog at my feetAnd that dog just looked at me with a funny look on it's face and said nothingI wasn't surprisedAnyway, I eventually moved back to Sydney and got a job selling newspapersDown at Central StationI read them everyday but I never read anything about LouieI guess he never got a mentionSo the moral of the story is, never be too sureCheck out all the facts and don't be too prematureAnd remember what Louie said about secrets, and about pensBy the way, the dog's name is FreddieAnd he really does talk
