My Pad Songtext
von Chuck Berry

When I fix up my pad where my head shall lay
I′m gonna have it arranged in my own way
I'm gonna fill it with things that have caught my eye
And drifting from San Diego to Shy

It won′t be modern or no update style
But, oh, I thought for a long, long while
Of all the corners and all the nooks
Of all my bookshelves and all my books
The great big tables and deep soft chairs
And the Chinese rug at the foot of the stairs
An old, old rug from far Ciao Wong
That a Chinese princess perhaps once walked on


And I want a wood box, scarred and rough
For leaves and bark, and other stuff
Old pine nuts, and oak, and gum
To chunk on the fire when winter comes
And I want a cricket to hang around
'Cause I love its lonesome creaky sound
There'll be driftwood powder to burn on logs
And a shaggy rug for a couple of dogs

Perhaps a winner of prize and cup
And a little poodle, a lovable pup
There are times when only a dog will do
For a friend when you′re beat down, sick and blue
Let the world go wrong, he wouldn′t care
If you break and cry, or grouch and swear
But he'll let you know as he licks your hand
That he′s downright sorry and he understands

And there where the shadows fall I have planned
To have a magnificent concert grand
With polished wood and Ivory keys
To play wild discordant rhapsodies
Wailing manner, Hindu songs
Far out chance and clinging gongs
Flippin' jazz and lullabies
And more rock and roll that I′ll improvise
And I'll play the long gray dust away
And I′ll bid goodbye to another day


Pictures I think I'll have with three
One in oil of a windswept sea
With a flying ship and the waves whip white
And I know that chap that can paint it right
Make you feel the spray on your face
I'll hang it over my fireplace

The second picture, a freakish thing
It′s bright and colorful as a peacock′s wing
An impressionistic smear called sin
Yeah, a nude on a striped zebra skin
By a Danish girl I knew in France
Now, my respectable friends, they'll look askance
The pallid face, cold black hair
The scarlet lips, and that sinister stare
But I like what I loath, the beastly thing
And that′s the way I feel about sin

But the picture I love best of all
Now hanging alone on my study wall
Where the sun's hot glow and the moon′s cold gleam
Can fall upon it and make it seem
That the eyes of this picture are meeting mine
That the lips are curved in a fine sweet line
That wishful, tender, provocative smile
It has stirred my heart for such a long long while

It was best for her and I, I know
But she measured my love, and made me go
We both have our great illusions yet
Unsoiled, unspoiled by vain regret
But I can't deny that it makes me sad
To know that I missed what I might have had
It′s a clean, sweet memory, and quite apart
And we both are still faithful within our heart

The roof of my house shall have a rankish tip
And shadowy eaves where the rain can drip
In a damp persistent tuneful way
Now, that's a cheerful sound on a gloomy day
When the wind is high and the storm gods race
And I'll be snugged by my fireplace
With a favorite book and a cigarette
And a long cool drink I guess my butler will get

And I′ll look about in my bachelor′s nest
While the sun goes zooming down in the west
And I'll feel that hot gold light on my face
And it′ll make me think of some heathen place
A place that I must have missed some way
Or a place that I plan to find someday
And I'll feel the lure of it drawing me
Damn it! I know what the end will be

I′ll go and my house, it'll wither away
With the mice by night and the moths by day
They′ll nibble the covers of all my books
And spiders weave webs in the shadowy nooks
But my dogs, I'll see that they'll have a home
While I follow the sun, while I drift in Rome
To the ends of the earth like a chip on a stream
Like a straw in the wind, or like a vagrant dream

And then it′ll strike me like a swift sharp pain
That I′ll probably never build again
This house that I plan to have someday
I guess I'll just be dreaming about it anyway