James McMurtry - Carlisle's Haul lyrics

Old Carlisle needs some money He's running a seine out off the point We'll all go help him though Commercial season's closed We might all wind up in the joint There's bright lights out on the sand bar Hear the donkey motor whine the donkey man minds his business And I know to be minding mind I learned from the best Hear them crabbers cuss the weather And they cuss the government too Nowadays crabbin' and fishin' hanging on to a pot to piss in Is just about the best a man can do It's hard not to cry and cuss when this old world is just bigger than us And all we got is pride and trust in our kind Old Carlisle and Uncle Freddy Don't you know they've seen some times They remember gas light oyster war machine gun fights I wished I'd known them in their prime Now they stare out past the lights to the darkness on the water I don't think they're liking what they see Long before that seine can make a circle They'll know what the outcome's gonna be They learned from the best They learned from the best So, haul that seine up in the long boat We get to keep whatever's gilled We'll take a bag of bunkers home For crab bait and blue fish chum a string of croaker for the Sunday meal String of croaker makes a meal It's hard not to cry and cuss when this old world is just bigger than us And all we got is pride and trust in our kind Staring down that long, steep slope We gather round and we hold out hope Because at the end of the rope There's a little more rope most times Uncle Freddy said we did a good job He's sending us home with a nine pound blue But I don't see a truckload for the market What's old Carlisle gonna do? 'Cept hall them lights off the sandbar Shut the donkey motor down Tow them longboats up the river Let's all get on back to town Let's all get on back to town before the warden comes He knows better than get here before dawn He's got that green uniform and the kids think he's a jerk but you know he's somebody's cousin And we can't have a hometown boy out of work It's hard not to cry and cuss when this old world is just bigger than us And all we got is pride and trust in our kind