Family Romance

He's a razorback. He's a beast.
He won't let danger come near me.
His hair is jet black, stiff and greased.
His teeth are crooked, but obviously
I love him as he is.
My whole body is his.
That man keeps my life on track.
He's a razorback.

We met in Arkansas, on the road.
My car broke down, he drove up,
Tobacco in his jaw. Quite a load.
He spat it loud into a paper cup.
He said, "Ma’am, it’s gonna rain.
"I’ll take you as far as Pleasant Plain.
"Throw your baggage in the back
"With my razorbacks."

We drove into the coming storm,
Pedal pushed to the floor.
His home-brewed moonshine kept us warm.
He told some dirty jokes and he laughed like a wild, wild boar.

He’s a razorback, he ain't no pig.
That man knows how to treat me right.
We live in a shack, but it's big.
It’s painted fresh and it's watertight.
He lets me do what I want.
I got my own restaurant.
It’s a cornfed country fact:
He's ugly but he’s got the knack.
He’s a razorback.

Razorback

During the late 1980s, when I was living in Cuernavaca, Boston ’s Kurt Armstrong and I received a Nashville publishing deal due to a song we co-wrote called Lost With The Lonely (Again). During my 2-1/2 year Mexican stint, I would send Kurt lyrics, and Kurt would send me melodies on cassettes which miraculously made it through the entrails of the Mexican mail service. Razorback started as a melody, which I learned on the guitar and ran through my head in an infinite loop until words began to appear. Before I learned of her sexual orientation, I finished the song with Melissa Etheridge in mind as the vocalist.