Kim Everett - guitar, drums and vocals

"Elmer McCurdy" by Kim Everett

Track 1 recorded by Ralph Spight
Track 2 recorded by Matt Young at The Press


Elmer McCurdy didn't live past thirty.
He died in an Oklahoma town
bringing a whiskey train down.
32-20 to the chest and he died,
saying, "You'll never take me alive."

You'll never take me alive.
You'll never take me alive.

And from the side show tents to the museum of crime
he made a small fortune after he died,
saying, "You'll never take me alive."
You'll never take me alive.

Elmer McCurdy was left all alone
in a Pawhuska funeral home
where nobody came to claim his bones.
No one cared to give him a proper headstone.
So the undertaker put him on display,
sitting in a window all day
with arsenic in his veins
mummifying his remains.
Children came to put a nickel in his mouth
so they could lean in close and they could almost hear him shout,
"You'll never take me alive."

You'll never take me alive.
You'll never take me alive.

And from the side show tents to the museum of crime
he made a small fortune after he died,
saying, "You'll never take me alive."
You'll never take me alive.

Elmer McCurdy was taken on the road
traveling with the carnival shows.
From the hills of Oklahoma to the mines up in the snow
where the carnival's all you get before you go,
all the people stood in line.
See the mummy bandit for a dime.
And they leaned in close and they could almost hear him cry,
"You'll never take me alive."

You'll never take me alive.
You'll never take me alive.

And from the side show tents to the museum of crime
he made a small fortune after he died,
saying, "You'll never take me alive."
You'll never take me alive.

Elmer McCurdy was taken inside
and given a place to rest and to hide
in a Long Beach amusement park ride
where all the other corpses were wood and glassy-eyed.
After 50 years on the road,
it's always good to have a place to go.
It's always good to have a place to laugh in the dark
until the time comes when things start to fall apart.
Elmer's arm came crashing to the floor,
revealing bone and other gore,
and now he's buried up on Boot Hill
where it's always dark and it's always still
and if you lean in close you can still hear him cry,
"You'll never take me alive."

You'll never take me alive.
You'll never take me alive.

And from the side show tents to the museum of crime
he made a small fortune after he died,
saying, "You'll never take me alive."
You'll never take me alive.

Elmer McCurdy didn't live past thirty.
He died in an Oklahoma town
bringing a whiskey train down.
32-20 to the chest and he died,
saying, "You'll never take me alive."

2015, Pneumonia Records