Celtis Carr - Talking St. Kilda Blues Lyrics
I first met Louie in 1986 he was hanging around St. Kilda, down by the pier We got to talking about politics and injustice Louie said let’s go across to the Esplanade and have a beer The barmaid was Annie, at least I think that was her name I ordered a VB stubby, Louie ordered the same Then he turned to me with a crazy grin And said, man, I’m gonna tell you something I ain’t told nobody Louie gazed around the bar, slowly, like he was looking for someone he knew And then lowered his voice and spoke without moving his mouth much The way Humphrey Bogart used to do He said, everybody got a secret, they got something to hide But me, I’m a little different, you see, I just killed this guy And then our eyes met for just a second, and I knew he was serious I knew I was a little scared I whispered, so why’d you kill him anyway And then I looked around to see if anyone had heard Louie said, it was over this gambling debt thing, he got all my money And all I got was his word Cause they’ll always rip you off, it’s just a matter of when Some do it with a gun, man, some do it with a pen Louie put down his beer and smiled And said, you shoulda seen the look on that guy’s face, I was glad I hadn’t I finished my beer and said, look, I gotta run Louie said, hey, can I get a lift, there’s some people I gotta meet So we walked out and got in my old Falcon Started it up and headed up Fitzroy Street Louie pulled out a matchbook, on the back someone drew A map and an address, somewhere out in Kew And Louie said, I’ll bet we can get there in ten minutes I said, no thanks, I don’t bet, not anymore anyway So we pulled up to this house, there were no lights on, it was all black And Louie opened the car door and said come on in for a minute You gotta see this talking dog they got out back And I said, what? He said, they got a talking dog out back So I forgot about that other thing and got out of the car And followed Louie up to the house Louie knocked on the heavy old door, slowly creaked open like it wasn’t latched We went inside a couple of steps, it was pitch black, Louie said, you got a match And I gave him one Then he lit it up, I could see the back door Just getting a look at that dog was all that I came for So I left Louie in the hallway and went out to check out the back yard Then I stepped out in the grass It looked like it hadn’t been mowed in at least a year And out in the middle sat this old spotted mongrel With three legs and one ear I knew right then I’d been taken for a fool Why this dog couldn’t talk, it just sat there and drooled Just then I heard a couple voices coming from inside the house And one of them was Louie’s So I listened closely, trying to hear what was being said But all I could make out was something about not really being dead And then I heard a shot, something hit the floor Man, I ain’t ever been this scared before Then a deep voice behind me said, come on, there’s a gate around the side Let’s get out of here – and I ran like hell Then I jumped in my old Falcon, fired it up and put the pedal straight to the floor Man, I did a hundred and ten through Hawthorn, through Caulfield Hit the Princes Highway, I didn’t stop til I got to the ocean shore Then I let out a sigh, sat back in the seat Almost jumped through the roof when I saw that dog at my feet And that dog just looked at me with a funny look on its face and said nothing I wasn’t surprised Anyway, I eventually moved back to Sydney and got a job selling newspapers Down at Central Station I read them everyday but I never read anything about Louie I guess he never got a mention So the moral of the story is, never be too sure Check out all the facts and don’t be too premature And remember what Louie said about secrets, and about pens By the way, the dog’s name is Freddie And he really does talk
