Maddox Table - 10,000 Maniacs

The legs of maddox kitchen tables

My whole life I twisted on a lathe

In a foreman’s torrent

My first english was

«faster boy if you want your pay»

Barking commands

Loud and simple

We could all obey

Then i was forever pulling slivers

Rubbed the sawdust always

Deeper in my eye

Varnish vapor that could linger

On my skin

It held tight

The whine of spinning blades

Still echoes to bother my sleep at night

See that oxen

Stamped dead center

On the letter head of the company mail

For decades, a spitting image

Of the animal, I portrayed

At maddox table a yoke was carved

For my neck

Sun through the window oil spattered

And in mason jars

Tricked plenty seeds to thrive

The standing joke

Around the shop

Was with my green thumb

Anything’d grow

My part was to laugh

Show an ornery jig had

Cut it at the knuckle bone

See that oxen

Trade mark burned

Into every stick of furniture

From horn to tail

For decades, a spitting image

Of the animal, I portrayed

At maddox table a yoke was carved

For my neck

Was tailor made

Oh, my Dolly was a weak

Not a burdened girl

Treat her to a piece of vaudeville

A Wintergarden moving picture show

Bemus Point on July Sundays

By trolley we’d go

To your benefit we’ll strike a bargain

With the waving fist of a union man

Not just for

Smokes

Spirits

Candy and cologne

But for

Automobile keys

Cash in the bank

And the deed

On a place called home