Tom Russell - What Work Is Lyrics
Yeah, I used to work with a guy named Frankie AcostaWe were butter strippers down at the Challenge CreameryStrippin’ the cardboard off 70 lbs cubes of butterIt was hot back then, summer of 1963And Franky, man, he’d get so angryHe’d say, “See what the women make me do...â€Then he’d break off a splinter from a dirty wooden palletAnd stick it like a knife in one of them big old butter cubes1st Chorus:That’s what work isThat’s what love isA little pleasure and a little miseryNow every time it gets hard out hereI think of L.A. back in 1963.Then I got a job workin’ for the City of InglewoodRunnin’ the chipper, chippin’ limbs off of treesI worked with a guy named Crazy Dave MacklinAnd one day he almost ran a tractor over meAnd we were out choppin’ weeds near South CentralWhen the riots broke out and the sky turned fiery red and brownAnd I called up my girlfriend on a payphone and said, “Baby, I love you, but I think God’s gonna finally burn Gomorrha down.â€And she said2nd Chorus“That’s what work isThat’s what love isYou build a house of straw and the flames lick the sky.â€Now every time I fall in love out hereI think of L.A. back in 1965.I finally got a job drivin’ a rose truckFrom Santa Barbara, Midnight, to L.A. 5th and MainAll jacked up on coffee, cheap speed and donutsWalkin’ around the L.A. flower market in the rainAnd every time I’d eat breakfast at The Pantry down at FigueroaThe waiters were always old-time ex-consThen we’d load the trucks back up with empty rose boxesAnd drive on up the coast through the California dawn.3rd Chorus:That’s what work isThat’s what love isTwo eggs over easy on a T-Bone steakAnd every time I see the sun rise over the oceanI think of L.A. back in 1968.Repeat 1st ChorusI used to work with a guy named Franky Acosta…
