I went down to the poolhall / late on a Tuesday
nothing but a dollar to my name
I was only looking / to pass some hours
While I waited for my leven o’clock train
Well I took a seat at / an empty table
It couldn’t have been no later than quarter past
There were a few games going / not a whole lot happenin
I wondered how long my dollar was gonna last
Among the poolsharks / and grizzly fellas
I saw two hustlers taking money left and right
They were shooting doubles / telling stories
Of how this must’ve been their lucky night
Well I got distracted / by a well-known waitress
Named Rita, wearing stockings and a fishnet blouse
She said, “You thirsty?” / I said, “I got no money,”
She said, “It won’t help you—this ones on the house.”
Well she brought me something / it was all a bubblin
I sniffed it, then I took a thirsty pull
When I brought the cup down / everyone was starin
Somebody whispered, “That man done lost his soul.”
Well I started feeling / a little funny
And then I blacked out and fell right to the floor
When I came to / the place had cleared out
Cept for one of those two hustlers from before
He put his hand out / said “Pleased to know you,”
I can see you’re new here, so allow me to explain:
Said, “You’re dead now / but this ain’t heaven
That there’s Rita—and Satan is my name.”
He said, “I see your startled / that’s only natural
good news is that I’m a gambling man
if you play me / in a game of billiards
I’ll let you have your soul back, if you win.”
Well I accepted his conditions
In my position, hell, what else could I do?
He racked the balls up, rearranged em
and then broke em while I eyed and chalked my cue
Well the break was perfect / he made six balls in
every pocket on the table took a hit
Three were striped ones / and three were solid
Satan said, “I guess I get my pick.”
He chose solids / and eyed the two-ball
Said, “Corner pocket,” and gave an awful grin
It looked unlikely / downright impossible
Sent the cue-ball round the table and Number 2 went in
Then he said “Watch this,” / said, “You see that pair there?”
He pointed at the 1 up against the 3
He hit the cue ball / smack in between em
And each went in different holes, simultaneously
Well I’s in trouble / and boy, I knew it
But I held my piece and didn’t let nothing show
He had a clean shot / on the number 7
And, of course, he made it, with just the 8 ball left to go
When all of a sudden, he became curious
Said, “I hate to win so easy with the stakes so high”
He fired gently, grazed the eight-ball
Said, “If you think you can win, let’s see you try!”
Well just then something made me look at Rita
she looked so lonesome, so lovely and so sad
I said to Satan, “Before I shoot here,
What do you say we revise the agreement that we had?”
I said, “If I’m defeated, you get my spirit
It’ll be all yours to do with what you feel—
But if I win, you free Rita—”
Satan laughed and said, “That’s all? You gotta deal.”
I said, “For a hustler, you know you’re pretty cocky
I’m surprised to know the devil even gives a damn—
I didn’t want to / haveta hurt your feelings—
but you must have no idea who I am”
And saying that much / I took my first shot
Hit the nine into the ten into the twelve
Sunk em easy / and went on shooting
Til I cleared that entire table by myself
When it was over / I put my hand out
Said, “I’ll be taking back our souls, now, I trust
He said “That wasn’t our agreement—”
I said “Actually, as a matter of fact, it was—”
I explained that long time before this
Rita’s and my soul were intertwined,
“Techically speaking, I belong to her—
I’m as much a part of hers as she is of mine.”
Sometimes folks ask me how I met Rita
How we ever came to be husband and wife
I always tell em it’s a boring story:
One time she tried to kill me, and saved my life.
Sam Steffen is a Pennsylvania-bred, Boise-based singer-songwriter whose songs are the torch-wood for a new generation of
folk music that has learned from the best stuff in the tradition and aims in spite of everything to keep the human spirit alive and kicking. A versatile musician and skilled finger-picker, Sam is at heart a story-teller, and a prolific one....more
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