James McMurtry - Choctaw Bingo

From Saint Mary of the Woods (2002)

A repeating theme for this blog is songs with repeating song segments. Well, how about 8:36 of the same riff, no chorus?

It tells a series of rambling vignettes about the different southern people coming together for a family reunion to celebrate uncle Slayton. A poetic slice of Americana.

My cousin Roscoe, Slaton's oldest boy
From his second marriage up in Illinois
He's raised in east St. Louis by his mamma's people
Where they do things different, thought he'd just come on down
He's goin' to Dallas, Texas in a semi truck
Caught from that big McDonald's
You know that one that's built up on that
Great big old bridge across the Will Rogers turnpike
Took the big cabin exit, stopped and bought a carton of cigarettes
At that Indian smoke shop with the big neon smoke rings
In the Cherokee nation, hit Muskogee late that night
Somebody ran the stoplight at the Shawnee Bypass
Roscoe tried to miss 'em but he didn't quite

It has crystal meth semi-trucks, guns, badass Hebrews, McDonalds, hot cousins, and a great piano solo.

So strap them kids in, give them a little bit of vodka, and put this song on.