little black girl in a red dress
on a hot night with a broken shoe
little black girl you shoulda never left home

theres probly someone thats still waitin up for you
its cold back in chicago
but in los angeles its worse

when all you got is $29.00 and an alligator purse

i see already that vulture in the fleetwood

with the shartruse hood
can see you're trying to get your bearings
and you say hey which ways the main stem

and where ever you say you're from
he'll say he grew up there himself
and he'll comeon and make you feel

like you grew up right next door to him
and you say take a left on central
and he throws it in reverse

cause you only got $29.00 and an alligator purse

and he'll come on like a gentleman

and you'll be a little shy
you say your ex old man was a sax player
he'll say baby i used to play bass for sly

and you say you like his cadillac,
say honey i got 2 or 3
he'll say sweetheart you're sure fortunate

that you ran into me
when you've done a dime in the joint
you figure nothin could be worse

and you got $29.00 in an alligator purse

well he got pharoh on the 8 track

you start smokin a little boo
you thinkin gettin out of chicago was the
best thing ever happened to you

but he ain't no good samaritan
he'll make sure he's reimbursed
lot more than $29.00 and an alligator purse


now when the streets get hungry, baby
you can almost hear them growl

someone's setting a place for you
when the dogs begin to howl


well the streets are dead
they creep up and take up what was left on the pole
they make... suckers always make mistakes

when they're far away from home
Chicken in a pot
Whoever gets their first

Gonna get himself 29.00
and an alligator purse


now the sirens just an epilog
the cops always get there too late
they always stop for coffee

on the way to the scene of the crime
they always try so hard to look like movie stars
they couldn't catch a cold

you only wasting your dime
and she's lucky to be alive
the doctor whispered to the nurse

she only lost a 1/2 pint of blood
$29.00 and an alligator purse