Count My Blessings

Mama gimme a nickel and a deck of cards

Said go on and play in the back yard

Walking down the alley come my Uncle Lonnie

Said lemme teach ya about Three-card Monte

Take the ace of hearts and two black queens

Flip 'em over so they can't be seen

Spin 'em around four or five times

Bet a nickel find the ace and win a dime

Ten minutes later I had thirty five dollars

Singing ain't misbehaving by the great Fats Waller

I believe I'm gonna count my blessings

I believe I'm gonna count my blessings

Now I saw a black crow on a fence post

Singing away like Sam Hopkins's ghost

He sang when you see I ain't breathing no more

Nail my feathers to an old barn door

Or drag my carcass out behind the shed

Just make sure you're pretty sure I'm dead

Ask an Ouija board if you can't quite tell

Or if I start to stink like the floors in hell

Go to Navasota after I'm done dying

It don't do you no good sitting around crying

So I got me a pencil and a moleskin book

When I heard Bertha Franklin shot and killed Sam Cooke

Wrote down December 11, 1964

Ain't gonna be twisting the night away no more

It took 15 minutes for the jury to decide

'Cause of death's justified homicide

Liza Boyer wasn't called by the prosecution

Later on she's arrested for prostitution

La Hacienda motel had a busted down door

Sam's wallet and his money was never accounted for