[Verse 1: Chicago-blues male lead, hard shuffling drums, snarling overdriven guitar, raw Chicago-blues shout] Black and white notebook, got it in the third grade Wrote the first line down the day that Pruitt took my change Lunch money, Tuesday, by the fence on the South Side Wrote his whole name out in pencil, wrote it down with pride Foreman docked my check for a shift that I worked Wrote it in the margin with the date and the smirk Landlord kept my deposit, said the carpet had a stain Wrote it underneath in ink that'll outlast the rain Bobby borrowed my car and he borrowed my girl Wrote 'em both together, worst two lines in the world [Hook: Chicago-blues male lead, wailing harmonica, full band stomping] I got a long memory and a short little pen Every time you did me dirty, I wrote down where and when I got a long memory, I don't holler, I don't fight I just come around your house and read you what I write [Verse 2: Chicago-blues male lead, harder shuffle, harmonica snarling, menace rising] Pruitt runs a car wash out on Maxwell Street I stood at his counter till he couldn't feel his feet Opened up the notebook, read him Tuesday, third grade Watched a grown man shrink back into the kid he made Foreman's in a rocker on a porch in Calumet Read him his line slow, he ain't stopped shakin' yet Never laid a finger, never raised my voice Just a man with a notebook, and you ain't got a choice Every door I knock, I cross a line in red And I sleep like a baby in a well-made bed [Hook: Chicago-blues male lead, wailing harmonica, full band stomping] I got a long memory and a short little pen Every time you did me dirty, I wrote down where and when I got a long memory, I don't holler, I don't fight I just come around your house and read you what I write [Verse 3: Chicago-blues male lead, drums pounding, guitar grinding low] Forty years of pages and I'm down to the end Last little line in my own handwriting, friend Didn't know I wrote it, but I know my slant Know the way I cross a T, know the way I can't Had to sit down on the curb out front of Bobby's place Read the line twice with the paper in my face [Bridge: Chicago-blues male lead, bullet-mic snarl, the vocal jumps into a distorted bullet mic] Otis, forty years you spent keepin' up this book Every one of 'em went on livin' while you stood there and you looked Took my red pen out and I crossed off the name First line I ever crossed that didn't come back with the same [Final Hook: Chicago-blues male lead, full roaring voice, band crashing back in] I got a long memory and a short little pen Every time you did me dirty, I wrote down where and when I got a long memory, I don't holler, I don't fight I just come around your house and read you what I write [End]
