[Verse 1: Deep-soul male lead, raw and big over the heavy live drums] Big Clarence Hayes had the revue forty years Every Saturday at the Regal with the sweat and the cheers He'd slide on his knees from the drums to the edge Throw his cape to the crowd like a man on a ledge I carried his bags since the summer I was ten Shined his white shoes, and I shined 'em again Then the Tuesday he passed, Miss Della came by With a box tied in string, and she said, "Baby, don't cry" Size fourteen, white leather, scuffed at the toe "He said give 'em to Junior, Junior's next on the show" [Chorus: Deep-soul male lead] Big shoes, big shoes, size fourteen and white Newspaper in the toes every Saturday night Folks say, "Junior, you can't fill 'em," and I know that it's true But I'm gonna walk in 'em till I walk on through [Verse 2: Deep-soul male lead, the rolling organ risin' under him] First night out front and the Regal's half full And I'm slidin' in the shoes like a calf on a pull Couldn't do the knee drop, couldn't do the spin Every step I was thinkin' of where Clarence had been Old Willie on guitar gave a nod and a grin Said, "Son, he was scared the first night he walked in" So I sang it like Clarence, every cry, every moan In a dead man's shoes and a voice not my own And they clapped like you clap for a kid at a fair And I knew in my bones that I wasn't all there [Chorus: Deep-soul male lead] Big shoes, big shoes, size fourteen and white Newspaper in the toes every Saturday night Folks say, "Junior, you can't fill 'em," and I know that it's true But I'm gonna walk in 'em till I walk on through [Verse 3: Deep-soul male lead, the band steps down to a lower key as the shoes fly off] Last night of the tour and the Regal's packed tight Miss Della in the front in a dress of all white I hit the run from the drums and I go for the slide And the shoes come off of my feet and they fly One in the balcony, one in the aisle And the band falls quiet, and I'm sittin' there a while Then I stand up barefoot on the boards and the tape In my own key, my own cry, in my own shape And the Regal comes up off the seats with a roar Like they never heard Junior sing nothin' before [Bridge: Deep-soul male lead, raw] Clarence, I lost 'em Clarence, I lost 'em And I found my own feet [Chorus: Deep-soul male lead, last time, the whole band all the way up] Big shoes, big shoes, size fourteen and white Newspaper in the toes every Saturday night Folks say, "Junior, you can't fill 'em," and I know that it's true But I'm gonna walk in 'em till I walk on through [End]
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