Maddox Table Lyrics

[ music: Natalie Merchant/lyric: Natalie Merchant ]



the legs of Maddox kitchen tables 
my whole life twisted on a lathe 
in a foreman's torrent 
my first English was 
"faster boy if you want your pay" 
barking commands 
loud and simple 
we could all obey 

then I was forever pulling silvers 
rubbed the sawdust always 
deeper in my eye 
varnish vapor that could linger 
on my skin 
it held tight 
the whine of spinning blades 
still echoes to bother my sleep at night 

see that ox 
stamped dead center 
on the letter head of the company mail 
four decades a spitting image 
of the animal I portrayed 
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved 
for my neck 

sun through the window oil spattered 
and in mason jars 
tricked plenty seeds thrive 
the standing joke 
around the shop was 
with my green thumb 
anything'd grow 
my part was to laugh 
show and ornery jig had 
cut it at the knuckle bone 

see that ox 
trade mark burned 
into every stick of furniture 
from horn to tail 
four decades a spitting image 
of the animal I portrayed 
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved 
for my neck 

was tailor made 

o my Dolly was a weak 
not a burdened girl 
treat her to a piece of vaudville 
a Wintergarden moving picture show 
Bemus Point on July Sundays 
by trolley we'd go 

to your benefit we's strike or bargain 
with the waving fist a union man 
not just for 
smokes spirits candy and cologne 
but for 
automobile keys 
cash in the bank 
and the deed 
on a place called home