tiger tom dixon's blues

Tiger Tom Dixon had a gift from God
He could hit you quick, he could hit you hard
In a world where a man’s hands are put to the test
Tiger Tom Dixon’s hands were the best

Men came from Boston, from Ohio
Corners of counties that you’ll never know
From barrooms and pool halls with nothing to show
Except for the fists that they did throw at Tiger Tom Dixon
Tiger Tom Dixon

He’d step into the ring, gloves tied on tight
After humbling a man Tom would tie one on in spite
Kick back into a whiskey like it was an easy chair
Drink to anything that the devil may care

Now Tom held his future in his right fist
But there was no good time Tom Dixon could resist
No neon in New England he hadn’t passed out under
No white lightning that hadn’t felt his thunder

Men came from Boston, from Ohio
Corners of counties that you’ll never know
From barrooms and barstools with nothing to show
Except for the fists that they did throw at Tiger Tom Dixon
Tiger Tom Dixon

Tougher than leather and quick as a cat
Till a young man one day is no longer that
And dreams of those around him sink to the quick
When he slows just enough for them to figure the trick

Come a day in December the steely winds did blow
Into the ring a man Tom Dixon didn’t know
It was himself without the bottle, and the dream held fast
He took Tom’s dream with him and he never looked back

Tom rolled around that bottle for a couple of years
Till he was put in the ground by his own fears
Now all that is left is the story I have told
And the dream that still waits to unfold for Tiger Tom Dixon
Tiger Tom Dixon

Men came from Boston, from Ohio
Corners of counties that you’ll never know
From barrooms and barstools with nothing to show
Except for the fists that they did throw at Tiger Tom Dixon
Tiger Tom Dixon
Tiger Tom Dixon
Tiger Tom Dixon

-Rod Picott sung by Slaid Cleaves