We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Arkansas Bill

from Prayer Street Blues by Jeremy Joyce

/

about

Originally appeared on "Sleeping With The Devil"

lyrics

[Verse 1]
Nadine was a waitress working to pay the rent
She had a kid, got some money from the government
Her baby daddy weren’t nowhere around
She never left her home town.

[Verse 2]
Bill was from Arkansas, got in trouble with the law.
Shot a man to death in a roadhouse parking lot
Seven days on the run
With a hot Crown Vic and a smokin’ gun

[Verse 3]
Bill had a temper, he’d lose it quick
Nadine could take a punch, but she wouldn’t take shit
She grabbed the pistol from his side
And straddled him with her Missouri thighs

[Verse 4]
He ain’t felt that way before, at least not since the war
He finally had something worth living for
Nadine laid the Smith and Wesson down
They made hot hot love on the cold ground

[Chorus]
Nadine did a little work on the side
That’s how she met Arkansas Bill and went on one last ride

Bill didn’t have nothing in the world
Until he pulled of 29 to meet a Kansas City girl










Arkansas Bill

[Verse 5]
They changed cars and plates in about a dozen states
They thought that they could make it last
Bill kept a guitar, said he was a singer
And he didn’t drive too fast

[Verse 6]
They’d stake out a place for a couple of days
Working on a plan
Like Bill shooting Nadine with a blank
And then her sneaking around back

[Verse 7]
In New Mexico, Nadine played dead
Laying on the floor
She spots an off duty cop, reaching for his Glock
to point it at Billy boy

[Verse 8]
Now Nadine loved Bill more than any woman
Ever loved an Arkansas man
Five shots to the chest, the cop didn't have a vest
And out the door they ran

[Chorus]

[Verse 9]
Bill'l left three fingers were blown clean off
Running for the car
So they headed South for a border town
To find a doctor that wouldn't talk

[Verse 10]
They met up with some narcos
Bought armor, C-4, and guns
They'd do one last job, move to Nicaragua
Then they'd never have to run



Arkansas Bill

[Verse 11]
They walked into the bank, dressed real nice
Handed the teller a note
Well that teller nearly cried by look in Bill's eyes
And Nadine took off her coat

[Verse 12]
She wore twenty pounds of C-4
She wore a smile ten miles wide.
She wore a pretty red dress, and let out a laugh.
Said I ain't afraid to die

[Verse 13]
You better give me all your money
You better give me all your gold
If you give me any trouble
I'm ready to explode

[Instrumental Break]

credits

from Prayer Street Blues, released December 31, 2015

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Jeremy Joyce New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans couldn’t offer a more appropriate musical backdrop for Jeremy Joyce, whose genre-defying songs are born out of Jeremy’s macro-level interest in music history and his micro-level interest in what makes songs tick.

contact / help

Contact Jeremy Joyce

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Jeremy Joyce, you may also like: