Honky Tonk Woman

I was pretty excited

To be a honky tonk woman

Never kissed a boy

Until I really kissed one

Like, kissed one

Like, grabbed him by the throat

And let him have it

He bit my lip a little

And I liked it

I liked it too much
I think

To tell you the truth

That man’s breath

Tasted like barbecue

Like smoke

And meat

He went for my neck next

And I said ‘Uh uh uh’

Bad boy

That’s what he was

Naughty little bad boy

With stale breath

And big hands

That he wanted

To wrap around my neck

I said, ‘You can do whatever you want

With permission’

But I didn’t give him

Permission

That’s where we ran into trouble

Because he had a turnoff

And the turnoff was called

Consent

Back then

Memphis was a noose

That you tightened

Then strung up

Over whatever tree branch

You could find

You took something

Meant to destroy you

And you let it

That’s how you surprised

Everybody

The key to a good life

When you’re a honky tonk woman

Is as much survival

As you can stomach

Until you’re puking up courage

And the chicken thighs

You gobbled up

Before you left for work

That night

I had a cast-iron

But I still tasted blood

When they’d put their

Greased-gobbled hands

Places they shouldn’t

Even a honky tonk woman

Has her limits

See, they didn’t know

That I was originally

From New York

And a New York girl in Memphis

Is a whole other thunderstorm

The kind nobody

Brings an umbrella to

I just wanted

To make a living

Then go home every night

To my baked beans

And old cat

The man with bad breath?

He had other plans

Kept following me home

And one night

He made it all the way

Up to the seventh step

Before I believed him

When he told me

He’d kill me

If I didn’t love him back

When a man says

It’s you or his pride

You better believe

He means to leave you

On those stairs

Looking worse than dog’s dinner

Just to warn the next poor girl

Who won’t let him

Get up to the front door

I fixed him right there

On that seventh step

And when I called the police

To come get him

They said they never saw

So much blood before

It wasn’t all that much

It was just the way it spilled

As it went down the stairs

Music isn’t as loud as it seems

It’s just the kind of music

And the words

To go along with it

And the tone of a voice

The pitch

And drop

A honky tonk woman

Knows how yell quietly

She knows how to make herself

Nothing but a kitten

While she snakes around you

And takes every last bit of air

You’ve got