By: Davis Ripley Keller
I was drinking with the Devil and the Devil got drunk
Passed out cold so I put him in the trunk
Drove downtown to the county jail
Said “book this crook don’t set no bail”
Police said, “what did he do?”
I said, “what did he didn’t do?”
“This is the feller that started it all.
Way back when there weren’t no law.”
“This is the dude that invented crime,
And he ain’t even done no county time!”
“Well hold on, son,” that deputy said.
“I can’t book him till his rights are read.”
“And anyway boy; you got some proof?
How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“Both of you drunks- back in the cell!
And any kinda trouble, you’ll wish this was hell!”
So me and the Devil got locked in the tank
That’s when i noticed how much he stank.
That sumbitch just lay there stinking
Gross mfkr is what I was thinking.
Bout that time I heard a roaring.
Damn drunk devil done commenced to snoring
Drool was splashing from his flapping lips.
His nostrils wheezed with an evil hiss.
I started thinking and thinking fast
What if the devil starts passing gas?
I’ll probably die a horrible death
And my lips will turn blue when I run out of breath!
I jumped up and I ran to the door!
I beat and I yelled and I cussed and I swore!
Had all I can takes, I can’t takes no more!
Open this god dang mthrfkng door!
Well the police looked and laughed and left
I slid to the cement floor and wept
Another fine mess I’d gotten me in
What did I think I could get rid of sin?
The district attorney will shit in his britches
And he’ll tell the judge who’ll be rolling in stitches
They’ll probably bury me under the jail
And the Devil will carry my soul back to hell.
Well I crawled in the corner and covered my head
Tried to remember what grandaddy said
Bout thinking and drinking at same damn time
You could sell your soul for a dollar and a dime.
Well i must have fallen asleep for a spell
On the pissy floor of that concrete cell
Cause I woke to a pungent burning smell
I looked at the devil and said, “Oh Hell!”
He was sitting and smiling and smoking
A great big joint he was puffing and toking
The smoke was so thick I could barely see
Then the Devil leaned over and passed it to me!
Well I was stunned and about to be stoned!
I tried to say thanks but just gibbered and moaned
I took a big drag of the Devils Dope
And my eyes became billions of telescopes!
Everything everywhere fused into focus
Like abracadabra and hocus-pocus!
And all of a sudden i always knew
There never was nothing unnatural or new
And nobody never knows better than you
There’s ones that don’t and there’s ones that do!
Give is to take as smile is to sob
And the poor damn devil’s just doing his job.
I woke the next morning the devil was gone
I figured some lawyer had posted his bond
Breakfast was better than beggars should beg
Two slices of toast and a hard-boiled egg
Believe it or not
I mean who woulda thunk
I drank with the devil
And the devil got drunk.
Davis Ripley Keller June 1994 Athens Georgia
