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
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
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