I saw my face in the paper today
it said hello to the face that i saw at home
then I read a tale of a girl with my name
it was not the one that I know, no
you shook my hand and you said you understand
and you said that you know where I'm coming from
but the only place that I've ever been
is far, far from known
what you say about me
stabs me in the heart
what you read about me is a shot in the dark
I've never been to Memphis
I've never seen my good-luck star
I've never seen Las Vegas lights
laughing at the dark
I've never dragged the train of my dress
down Elvis Presley Boulevard
I've never been to Memphis
cross my heart, hm
I want to see my name in neon lights
cause the words that you write they don't last, my friends
they only shine a day at a time
and leave stains on my hands, well
so what's the use in rolling the dice
when you already know how it's gonna fall
you think that if you play your cards right
you might deal with us all
what're gonna do
when a seven falls
will the rolling thunder scatter all of your cards
I've never been to Memphis, no
I've never seen my good-luck star
I've never seen Las Vegas lights
laughing at the dark
I've never dragged the train of my dress
down Elvis Presley Boulevard
I've never been to Memphis
cross my heart, cross my heart
ooh yes
believe me
I've never been to Memphis, no no
I've never seen my good-luck star, baby
I wanna see Las Vegas lights, yeah
laughing at the dark
I've never dragged the train of my dress
down Elvis Presley Boulevard
I've never been to Memphis
cross my heart, cross my heart
I've never been to Memphis, no no no
I've never seen my good-luck star, yeah
I've never seen Las Vegas lights, yeah
laughing at the dark
I've never dragged the train of my dress
down Elvis Presley Boulevard (yeah)
I've never been to Memphis
cross my heart, yeah
I've never been to Memphis, no no
I've never seen my good-luck star (no no)
I've never seen Las Vegas lights, yeah
laughing at the dark
I've never dragged a train of my dress
through the Nevada desert sand
I've never been to Memphis
raise my hand, raise my hand, baby, yeah
tell it how it is, c'mon on
whoo!
cross my heart
whow! that's the one - that was the one
credits
from I've Never Been To Memphis,
released April 28, 2014
written by Billie Ray Martin / Mark Tschanz (Touch Tones Music / EMI Music Publishing)
lyrics by Billie Ray Martin
produced and arranged by Felix Huber and Billie Ray Martin
mixed by Mike Nielsen at Soundgarden, Hamburg
The Memphis Rhythm Section:
organ: Marvell Thomas
drums: Steve Potts
bass: Jimmi Kinard
guitar: Willie M. Toles III
recorded at House Of Blues Studios, Memphis
recording engineer: William C Brown III
backing vocals performed by Ann Peebles, Carla Thomas and Billie Ray Martin
Ann Peebles' and Carla Thomas' vocals recorded at By Faith Studio, Memphis
vocal recording engineer: Paul Brown
additional instruments: Felix Huber
additional recording at White Noise and Luna Studios, Hamburg
"Billie Ray Martin is one of the living legends in modern music history and one of the best voices on planet earth."
DJ Hell
"Billie Ray Martin is an absolute revelation."
K.Hollings, The Wire
Billie Ray Martin: "I'm a kid from Hamburg’s red-light district, who wanted to be a soul singer, but ended up playing repetitive machine music, while still trying to be a soul singer"...more