What Would I Do Without
What would I do without horses,
it's true
What would I do without horses and you
Well, I could have been a lawyer,
once wanted to be one
Defend all the bad guys,
and that would be such fun
And everybody would hate me,
except the mafioso soul sons
So what would I do without horses?
What would I do without horses,
if it's true?
What would I do without horses
and you?
Well, I could have been a singer,
once wanted to be one
Singer, songwriter,
who carried a big gun
To shoot out every jukebox
that played all them bad songs
What would I do without horses?
And what would I do without horses,
it's true
What would I do without horses
and you
My dad was from a poor family
an d as a little kid
he hopped over the fence
of the golf course
and somehow learned to play the game.
15 years old he became the
assistant professional
at the Jewish Country Club
in Scarsdale, Sunningdale Country Club.
16 years he was a co -head pro.
He played in some tournaments
but for his back so he was relegated
to be a teaching club pro.
And he loved it
and he made a living for his family.
It wasn't a big living, but it was good.
It was not a glamorous job
back in those days.
It was just almost like being the
locker room attendant
or something like that.
Job with dignity,
but you serviced the members and stuff.
Later on, after many years of doing that
In the wintertime, in New York,
it was cold,
so one of the members set him up with
a teaching job in St. Croix.
That was wonderful.
Didn't pay much, but Mom
and Dad got a month vacation.
When I was a senior in high school,
my brothers were off to college.
I was there by myself
when they were in St. Croix.
At that period of time,
I was into my gambling things a little bit,
and I knew all the local
underground folks
who did the gambling stuff.
Most of them were Mafia guys,
they were great guys.
So I decided I was going to have a big party
over at my mom and my folks' house,
invited all those boys over,
and the young pretty high school girls in the neighborhood,
they they served the whiskey
and they served the food
and had a great time
and there was all these Cadillacs
parked around the house
in the neighborhood
and one of the guys sang opera
that afternoon,
was great. My mom and dad got home,
my dad said, Jamie,
I heard you had a party
here at the house.
He said, I heard there were
Cadillacs
lined around the block.
I said, yeah.
He said, I heard somebody
was singing opera.
I said, yep.
He said, damn.
I wish I was here.
I could have been a dreamer,
well, I guess I still am.
A storytelling schemer
who made him some big plans
By getting all the bad guys
to listen to the good bands
Come over to my folks' house
to my barbecue slam jam
With Elvis on the box
and opera on the other hand
Oh, what would I do without horses?
What would I do without horses,
it's true
What would I do without horses
and you