From the recording Good Old Days
Lyrics
[Intro]
ba-da-dap!
woof-ba-doo!
let’s roll
[Verse 1]
Heard a horn on Rampart, midnight air,
Trumpet called my name like it put me there.
Tail on the two, paws pat the pave,
I fell in step to a drummer’s wave.
[Chorus]
I’m your second-line stray, marching in the street parade,
Give me a name and a biscuit and I’ll guard your case all day.
When the night turns cold and gray, I’ll swing the gray away,
I’m the second-line, tail-time, bark-in-rhythm stray.
[Verse 2]
Clarinet whispers, bones slide low,
Banjo chops time where the streetlights glow.
If you whistle me close, I’ll sit and stay,
Keeping watch on the hat where the nickels lay.
[Chorus]
I’m your second-line stray, marching in the street parade,
Heel to the beat, four feet on the street, I’ll keep the wolves at bay.
With a wag like a metronome, I’ll walk your heart toward home,
I’m the second-line, tail-time, bark-in-rhythm stray.
[Bridge]
If your troubles start to crowd
I’ll carry them down the block
When the woodblock talks at two a.m.,
Count me in, I’ll count for them.
[Break]
[Chorus]
I’m your second-line stray, marching in the street parade,
Strike up the stomp and the levee wind, we’ll turn the night to day.
Give me a corner, give me a tune, I’ll stay till the last hooray–
I’m the second-line, tail-time, bark-in-rhythm stray!
[Outro]
ba-da-dap!
woof!