I like your twisted point of view, Mike
I like your questioning eyebrows
You've made it pretty clear what you like
It's only fair to tell you now

that I leave early in the morning
and I won't be back till next year
I see that kiss-me pucker forming
but maybe you should plug it with a beer, cause

Papa was a rodeo, Mama was a rock'n'roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas, Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough for a one night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo

The light reflecting off the mirror ball
looks like a thousand swirling eyes
They make me think I shouldn't be here at all
You know, every minute someone dies

What are we doing in this dive bar
How can you live in a place like this
Why don't you just get into my car
and I'll take you away I'll take that kiss now, but

(Boy) Papa was a rodeo

And now it's 55 years later
We've had the romance of the century
After all these years wrestling gators
I still feel like crying when I think of what you said to me

Papa was a rodeo

Before you kiss me you should know, Papa was a rodeo
What a coincidence, your Papa was a rodeo too


Lyrics submitted by Anne Arbour

Papa Was a Rodeo Lyrics as written by Stephin Merritt

Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Papa Was A Rodeo song meanings
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24 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    amazing song - funny, wistful, sweet; hopelessness and hope, romanticism and cynicism perfectly combined...

    father/mother thing makes a certain amount of sense - though if he meant to reference gender stereotypes that strongly, i would imagine it was tongue-in-cheek

    jalopyon April 12, 2008   Link

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