Dead Egyptian Blues

Words & Music:

Michael Smith

Oh, Mister Tut, what good's it do?

They love your chair, but nobody cares for you

Egyptian nights were never colder

And all your friends are thousands of years older

Whatever happened to that gang down by the Sphinx

Seems they're only forty winks away

Those girls from Cairo with their belly button jewels

Made you play the fool, yesterday, yesterday.

And now you keep in shape with Elmer's Glue

Because you're all wrapped up in them Dead Egyptian Blues.

Oh, Mister Tut, they love the mask,

Do they love it, honey, sweetheart, don't ask.

Where's those baby browns and that pearly smile

The smile that drove 'em wild by the early Nile.

You make one terrific hieroglyphic, don't you bro'

Centuries of standing sideways turned you to a pro.

Those girls from Cairo, who filled your heart with lust

They've all turned to dust yesterday, yesterday

And those bandages don't do that much for you

Because you're all wrapped up in them Dead Egyptian Blues.

Oh, Mister Tut, they dig the tomb, yeah;

All that gold leaf brightens up a room

But what's the diff, when you're stiff, what riff they're playin'

When your ears have spent five thousand years decayin'

What does it matter, what possessions you may boast

When you're just a ghost, it's only jive, Clive,

Your sarcophagus is glowin' but your esophagus is showin'

Who cares how rich you are, love, when you look like Boris Karloff

Call Nautilus, they might even refund your dues

Because you're all wrapped up in them Dead Egyptian Blues.

INSTRUMENTAL:

Oh, Mister Tut, you wait and see

Another few thousand years, they're gonna dig up me

And I'll have all my little treasures near at hand

A CD of Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band;

A little dried-out Maui Wowie, crumbled in a bong;

A letter from my honey, sayin' "Love ya, kid, so long"

Some peanut butter sandwiches, that've long returned to sand

Not much gold or silver, but, Tut, I think you'll understand

That in my way, I'll be just like you

All wrapped up in them Dead Egyptian Blues.

note: Composed after viewing the King Tut exhibition.