REPORT FROM SANTA FE IS MADE POSSIBLE, IN PART, BY GRANTS FROM THE NEW MEXICO MUNICIPAL LEAGUE, A BETTER NEW MEXICO THROUGH BETTER CITIES AND FROM >>LORENE: HELLO, I'M LORENE MILLS AND WELCOME BACK TO PART TWO OF AN EXTRAORDINARY INTERVIEW WITH THE BELOVED NEW MEXICO AUTHOR, JOHN NICHOLS, THANK YOU FOR COMING BACK.
>>JOHN: I'M SO HAPPY TO BE BACK.
>>LORENE: WELL AND OUR LAST SHOW WE TALKED ABOUT YOUR FIRST BESTSELLING BOOK, MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR, THE PROCESS OF IT BEING MADE INTO A MOVIE AND SOME OF YOUR OTHER BOOKS AND YOUR OBSESSION WITH WRITING FROM AN EARLY AGE.
IN THIS PART OF THE SHOW, I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AS A NATURALIST AND ALL OF THE BEAUTIFUL NONFICTION BOOKS THAT YOU HAVE DONE, IN EFFECT, HAVE TWO MEMOIRS.
THIS ONE JUST CAME OUT, IT'S CALLED, I GOT MINE AND IT'S ALL ABOUT YOUR WRITING AND FILM CAREER.
>>JOHN: IT HAS NO NATURALISM, NO NATURE IN IT AT ALL.
>>LORENE: BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, THIS BEAUTIFUL BOOK, MY HEART BELONGS TO NATURE , MEMOIR, PHOTOGRAPHS AND PROSE.
THIS IS A RICH, BEAUTIFUL BOOK.
SO WE'RE GOING TO FOCUS ON SOME OF YOUR NATURAL STUFF, BUT YOU DID A TRILOGY OF FICTION FROM MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR, THE MAGIC JOURNEY , AND THE THIRD ONE, THE NIRVANA BLUES, SO THAT'S YOUR FICTION TRILOGY.
BUT YOUR NONFICTION TRILOGY STARTS WITH IF MOUNTAINS DIE , LOOK AT THIS BEAUTIFUL BOOK, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SOME READINGS FROM THIS, THE LAST BEAUTIFUL DAYS OF AUTUMN , VERY POIGNANT TITLE AND A FRAGILE BEAUTY, A PART OF WHICH IS ON THE MESA , RIGHT?
>>JOHN: WELL, ON THE MESA , YES.
THIS BOOK IS PROBABLY MORE QUALIFIED TO BE THE THIRD IN THE TRILOGY AS A MEMOIR, AS A LONG MEMOIR.
>>LORENE: WELL, ONE THING THAT INTRIGUED ME IN LEARNING ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND, YOU WERE GIVEN THE GIFT OF FAMILY HERITAGE TRADITION OF HAVING A GRANDFATHER AND A FATHER THAT WERE NATURALISTS, TALK ABOUT YOUR GRANDFATHER AND WHERE HE WORKED AND THEN TALK ABOUT YOUR DAD AND WHO HE WORKED WITH AND WHAT A PRIVILEGE IT WAS FOR YOU TO GO AND ACTUALLY SEE HIS ANIMALS.
>>JOHN: YEAH.
MY GRANDFATHER WAS NAMED JOHN TREADWELL NICHOLS, THAT'S WHERE I GOT MY NAME AND HE WAS ONE OF THE FOREMOST NATURALISTS IN THE UNITED STATES FROM THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
AND HE WAS FOR ABOUT 40 YEARS, I GUESS, THE CHIEF ICHTHYOLOGIST AT THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.
>>LORENE ICHTHYOLOGIST IS THE STUDY OF FISH.
>>JOHN: IT'S THE STUDY OF FISH AND SNAKES.
>>LORENE: OH, FISH AND SNAKES.
>>JOHN: YEAH, YOU GET SOME SNAKES IN THERE TOO OR AM I CORRECT, NO, HERPETOLOGIST IS SNAKES.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, I'M HAVING A LITTLE BRAIN MOMENT HERE.
>>LORENE: OKAY.
>JOHN: AND WHEN I WAS A KID, MY GRANDFATHER WOULD TAKE ME ON THE LONG ISLAND RAILROAD TRAIN FROM HIS HOUSE IN GARDEN CITY TO NEW YORK TO THE MUSEUM IN NEW YORK.
>>LORENE: THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.
>>JOHN: THAT'S RIGHT.
AND I HAD FREE RUN OF THE BACKSTAGE OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM.
I COULD JUST GO IN ALL THE CLOSETS AND ROOMS AND STUFF AND PULL OUT EVERY DRAWER AND MY GRANDFATHER HAD PICKLED FROGS AND PICKLED STICKLE BACKS AND PICKLED, YOU KNOW, SARDINES ON HIS SHELVES AND ALL KINDS OF PICKLED FROGS.
I MUST ADMIT THAT WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I PUT A LOT OF THINGS LIKE TADPOLES AND LITTLE FROGS INTO WHAT WAS THE PICKLE STUFF CALLED?
>>LORENE: FORMALDEHYDE?
>>JOHN: FORMALDEHYDE, YEAH, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY DID AT THE MUSEUM.
SO MY GRANDFATHER DIDN'T TALK TO ME MUCH ABOUT LIFE IN GENERAL, BUT I WENT FOR WALKS WITH HIM IN THE OLD FAMILY PLACE ON THE SOUTH SHORE OF LONG ISLAND, WHICH HAD A LOT OF LAND.
AND HE WOULD TELL ME WHAT EVERY TREE WAS, WHAT EVERY LEAF WAS, WHAT EVERY TURTLE WAS, WHAT EVERY INSECT WAS, WHAT EVERY FLOWER WAS, WHAT EVERY OSPREY WAS, YOU KNOW.
IF HE HEARD A BIRD CALL, HE'D SAY THAT'S A RED-EYED VIREO OR HE'D SAY, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A HERMIT THRUSH OR STUFF LIKE THAT.
AND HE'D ALWAYS GIVE ME THE LATIN NAME OF IT AND BELIEVING THAT I WOULD UNDERSTAND IT WHEN I WAS SIX YEARS OLD AND LATER MY FATHER WANTED TO BE HIS FATHER.
AND HE WAS A FIELD ZOOLOGIST FOR THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND MY DAD WENT AROUND CATCHING SMALL MAMMALS, LIKE FIELD MICE AND SHREWS, ALL KINDS OF LITTLE, TINY, YOU KNOW, WHITE FOOTED MICE AND STUFF FOR THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONS.
AND WE WOULD SIT AT THE KITCHEN TABLE, AND HE WOULD DO TAXIDERMY JOBS ON THE ANIMALS.
HE'D MAKE MUSEUM SPECIMENS FROM THEM, AND HE TAUGHT ME HOW TO DO THIS.
SO, I WAS VERY FAMILIAR WITH TOUCHING THESE ANIMALS UP CLOSE AND BIRDS, HE WOULD DO BIRDS ALSO.
AND CURIOUSLY, WHEN MY OWN CHILDREN WERE YOUNGER, WE WOULD GO OUT IN THE CAR AND THEY WOULD KEEP THEIR EYES JUST PEELED ALL ALONG THE ROAD FOR ROADKILL.
YOU KNOW LIKE LOTS OF PEOPLE GO OUT AND THEY GET THE LICENSE PLATE, HERE'S A LICENSE PLATE FROM CANADA, FROM WISCONSIN, FROM WASHINGTON.
AND MY KIDS WOULD JUST SAY, OH, THERE'S A DEAD, YOU KNOW, PARROT OR THERE'S A DEAD VULTURE OR THERE'S A DEAD RED-TAILED HAWK OR THERE'S A DEAD YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER.
AND IF IT WASN'T HARMED VERY BAD, WE'D PICK IT UP AND I'D BRING IT HOME AND I'D DO THE SAME THING THAT MY FATHER AND MY GRANDFATHER DID, I WOULD USE TAXIDERMY TO PEEL THE SKIN OFF AND EVERYTHING.
WE EVEN HAD OWLS, YOU WEREN'T REALLY SUPPOSED TO HAVE OWLS, BUT WE PICKED UP OWLS OFF THE ROAD AND I WOULD PUT THEM WITH THEIR WINGS SPREAD AND THEIR CLAWS DOWN, YOU KNOW, ABOUT THE GRASS AND HANG THEM BY A STRING OVER MY KIDS' BEDS AND THEY LOVED IT, THEY LOVED IT.
AND WE HAD OWLS, WE HAD SHARP SHINNED HAWK, WE HAD NIGHT HAWKS, WE HAD, I REMEMBER I HAD A STUFFED DOVE.
THERE'S A SCULPTOR FROM THE SAN JUAN OR OHKAY OWINGEH PUEBLO, NAMED MICHAEL SOMEBODY, WHO WAS SCULPTING, HE WAS BLIND.
>>LORENE: IS IT NARANJO?
MICHAEL NARANJO.
>>JOHN: YES, I THINK.
HE WAS BLINDED IN VIETNAM, I THINK HE WAS BLINDED IN VIETNAM, AND JIM SAGEL, A WONDERFUL WRITER, BROUGHT HIM AND A BUDDY OF MINE, BROUGHT MICHAEL TO MY HOUSE ONCE BECAUSE HE WAS MAKING A DOVE FOR RICHARD NIXON, THE PRESIDENT.
HE HAD A JOB TO DO THAT.
AND I REMEMBER TAKING MY DOVE DOWN OFF THE CEILING, GIVING IT TO MICHAEL AND HE SAT IN A CHAIR, IN MY LIVING ROOM, JUST FEELING THE DOVE FOR ABOUT TWO HOURS AND JIM SAGEL AND I WENT AND JUST TALKED ON THE PORTAL AND STUFF.
SO I WAS RAISED BY PEOPLE WHO REALLY KNEW THE NATURAL WORLD AND I LEARNED SO MUCH FROM MY FATHER, BEFORE HE BECAME DEAF, ABOUT ANY BIRD THAT TWEETED, HE WOULD TELL ME WHAT IT WAS.
IT WAS A MOCKINGBIRD, IT WAS A CAT BIRD, IT WAS A SNIPE, IT WAS A THIS, IT WAS A THAT.
HE WOULD TAKE ME ON THE LAWN IN THE EVENINGS AND WATCH, IS IT WOODCOCK, THEY DO A TWISTING DOWN TO MATE WITH THEIR MATE, TOWERING, IT'S CALLED TOWERING.
I JUST AUTOMATICALLY PICKED UP JUST ANYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT NATURE FROM MY GRANDFATHER AND FATHER AND PASSED IT ON TO MY KIDS.
>>LORENE: AND SO, WHAT A WONDERFUL GIFT IN THE MANY AREAS OF YOUR EXPERTISE, BECAUSE WITH THAT KEEN SENSE OF OBSERVATION OF A NATURALIST, IT MAKES YOUR WRITING, YOUR FICTION WRITING WONDERFUL AND YOUR NONFICTION WRITING IS ALSO EXTRAORDINARY.
I'M WONDERING IF YOU COULD READ ONE OR TWO PIECES FROM THE NONFICTION WORK.
>>JOHN: I CAN READ SOMETHING FROM ON THE MESA , BUT IT'S MOSTLY ABOUT THE LAND, IS THAT OKAY?
>>LORENE: YES, THAT'S NATURE.
>>JOHN: THE SACRED BOOK OF GUATEMALA'S K'ICHE MAYA INDIANS IS CALLED THE POPOL VUH .
IT BEGINS IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER.
THIS IS THE ACCOUNT OF HOW ALL WAS IN SUSPENSE, ALL CALM IN SILENCE, ALL MOTIONLESS, STILL, AND THE EXPANSE OF THE SKY WAS EMPTY.
THIS PASSAGE OFTEN COMES TO MIND WHEN I THINK OF THE MESA, I HAVE AN EAGERNESS FOR THAT SUSPENSE, THAT CALM, THAT SILENCE, FOR THE SENSATION OF A PLACID SEA, THE WORLD IMMOBILE UNDER A GREAT EXPANSE OF SKY, INSTINCTIVELY ON AN AUGUST EVENING I FIND MYSELF AT THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE.
RAIN IS GATHERING, NO HELICOPTER SURVEYORS OR PETROLEUM LANDMEN NEAR THE ISOLATION TONIGHT.
WORDSWORTH WASN'T KIDDING WHEN HE WROTE HOW GRACIOUS, HOW BENIGN IS SOLITUDE.
THE FRENCH WRITER, SAINT-EXUPÉRY, HAD A LECH FOR THE LONELINESS OF THE SMALL AIRPLANES HE PILOTED ACROSS DESERTS AND HE NURTURED AN UNDERSTANDING OF SIMPLICITY.
IN ANYTHING AT ALL HE ONCE WROTE, "PERFECTION IS FINALLY ATTAINED, NOT WHEN THERE IS NO LONGER ANYTHING TO ADD, BUT WHEN THERE IS NO LONGER ANYTHING TO TAKE AWAY, WHEN A BODY HAS BEEN STRIPPED DOWN TO ITS NAKEDNESS."
SUCH QUIET AIR IS ALMOST INCONCEIVABLE, A WORLD SO COMPLETELY HALTED SEEMS TO BE AN ARTIFICIAL CREATION OF AESTHETICS RATHER THAN A NATURAL PHENOMENON.
IT'S AN ENVIRONMENT WITHOUT QUALMS, SAGEBRUSH ETCHED AGAINST ITSELF AS IF INTO LAYERS OF FOSSILIZED STONES.
THE LIGHT IS CHANGING, DYING, DISSOLVING, BUT OH, WHAT PASSIONATE DEATH THROES.
I RECALL CHILDHOOD DAYS ON EVENING BEACHES, WHEN PHOSPHORUS SPARKS TUMBLED IN SEA FROM LAPPING AGAINST THE SAND, IT SEEMS A RESIDUE OF THAT SAME FLUORESCENCE LINGERS IN THE BRANCHES AND THE PEBBLES AND THE SAGEBRUSH AND THE BONES AROUND ME.
DANCING SURREAL LIGHT IS ACHINGLY INTENSE AND I CAN SMELL THE RAIN INVISIBLY SWELLING AROUND ME.
THEN THE AIR FLARES UP WITH THE GLOW, TRANSFORMING THIS DARK MOMENT INTO SUCH A VIVID CREATION THAT INSTINCTIVELY I CAST ABOUT FOR A BAND OF ANGELS OR AT LEAST THE SHIMMERING OUTLINE OF A DISTANT SAINT.
AND THAT'S ONE WAY I'VE LOOKED AT THE ENVIRONMENT.
>>LORENE: AND THIS IS JOHN NICHOLS READING FROM HIS BOOK ON THE MESA .
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL PASSAGE.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
SO YOU WERE ABLE TO, IT'S JUST AMAZING TO ME THE GIFT THAT YOU WERE GIVEN OF THAT KIND OF AWARENESS AND THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO WRITE ABOUT IT SO BEAUTIFULLY.
SO THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT WITH US.
>>JOHN: YEAH.
>>LORENE: I REMEMBER YOU'VE TOLD ME THAT ONE OF THE GREATEST MOMENTS OF YOUR LIFE WAS WHEN YOU WERE ABLE TO SEE YOUR FATHER'S WORK, HIS TAXIDERMY, LITTLE ANIMALS, AND WITH HIS HANDWRITTEN TAGS ON THEM, TELL ME ABOUT THAT.
>>JOHN: MY BROTHER SADLY DROWNED IN A RIP TIDE IN HAWAII IN 2013.
HE JUST WENT FOR A SWIM AND GOT CAUGHT IN A RIP TIDE.
AND I WENT BACK EAST FROM TAOS TO NYACK, NEW YORK, AND STAYED A COUPLE OF NIGHTS IN NEW YORK CITY AND GOT PERMISSION FROM THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY TO LOOK AT ALL MY FATHER'S COLLECTIONS THAT HE'D MADE FOR THE MUSEUM BETWEEN 19, I FORGET THE EXACT DATES, BUT BETWEEN THE AGES OF 14 AND 23 OR 24, AND HE COLLECTED SMALL MAMMALS IN ALASKA, IN ENGLAND, IN FLORIDA AND IN NEVADA, WHEN HE WAS A TEENAGER AND VERY YOUNG, SPENT HIS 21ST BIRTHDAY IN ALASKA.
AND THEY TOOK US BACK INTO THE VERY BACK ROOMS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM AND THIS WOMAN NAMED AJA MARCATO HAD LOOKED UP ALL THE DRAWERS WITH ALL MY FATHER'S SMALL MAMMALS IN THEM THAT HE COLLECTED AND SHE OPENED THEM AND I GOT TO SEE THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.
I'D NEVER SEEN THEM WHEN MY DAD WAS ALIVE, WE'D NEVER BEEN IN NEW YORK AND IN THE MUSEUM TOGETHER.
AND I SAW ALL THE LITTLE TAGS THAT HE PUT ON THESE BAT'S LEGS OR MICE LEGS OR DIFFERENT LEGS OF LITTLE, TINY ANIMALS.
AND IT WAS THRILLING TO SEE HIS WRITING, THE DATE, THE STATISTICS, WHERE HE FOUND IT, THAT SORT OF THING.
LEMMINGS IN ALASKA, THE PERSON TAKING US AROUND ALLOWED ME TO HOLD A LEMMING THAT MY DAD HAD COLLECTED IN ALASKA IN THE YEAR OF HIS 21ST BIRTHDAY.
AND I THINK THAT SCIENCE STILL DEPENDS ON COLLECTING, YOU KNOW, ANYTHING FROM INSECTS TO ANTS TO DIFFERENT ANIMALS, BUT IN A WAY DIFFERENT WAY THAT THEY WERE COLLECTED IN MY FATHER'S DAY.
AND MUCH, MUCH LESS WITH MORTALITY OF THE COLLECTED SPECIES, FOR EXAMPLE, I HAVE A REALLY DEAR FRIEND WHO IS A LEPIDOPTERIST, A BUTTERFLY GUY, AND A LOT OF HIS COLLECTIONS ARE PHOTOGRAPHY.
HE'S BECOME A VERY GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER OF BUTTERFLIES AND DOES NOT KILL, YOU KNOW ONE, ONE HUNDREDTH OF THE BUTTERFLIES THAT USED TO BE KILLED FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES.
AND WHEN MY KIDS WERE LITTLE I WOULD TAKE THEM LOOKING FOR BUTTERFLIES, I WOULD TAKE THEM LOOKING FOR LIZARDS ON THE MESA, I WOULD TAKE WE'D CATCH GUAJOLOTES.
>>LORENE: TURKEYS?
>>JOHN: THE PHASE OF THE TIGER SALAMANDERS, GUAJOLOTES ARE IN THE LITTLE PUDDLES AROUND.
>>LORENE: LIKE AN AAXOLOTL.
>>JOHN: AND WE'D PUT THEM IN AQUARIUMS ON OUR DINNER TABLE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS AND THEY'D FEED THEM GRASSHOPPERS, THEN LET THEM GO IN THE PUEBLO RIVER.
SO THEY GREW UP AND I SHOWED THEM RATTLESNAKES AND HOW TO BE KIND AND WALK AROUND THEM AND THAT SORT OF STUFF AND THEY SHOULDN'T BE THREATENING IF YOU JUST DON'T MESS WITH THEM AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
>>LORENE: DID IT GO SO FAR THAT YOU WERE EVEN TAKING NOTES ON HIKES?
>>JOHN: I TOOK NOTES ON EVERY HIKE I EVER TOOK.
>>LORENE: I LOVE IT BECAUSE ELIOT PORTER SAID, "YOU CAN GO BACK TO THE SAME PLACE A MILLION TIMES AND IT'S DIFFERENT EACH TIME."
>>JOHN: I'VE GONE BACK TO THE SAME PLACE A MILLION TIMES AND IT'S BEEN DIFFERENT EACH TIME AND I'VE TAKEN HUGE NOTES ABOUT THIS AREA AND IT'S IN THE WHEELER PEAK WILDERNESS.
IT DOES NOT INCLUDE WILLIAMS LAKE OR WHEELER PEAK, BUT THE REST OF THAT ALPINE BOWL, WHERE NOBODY GOES AT ALL.
HUGE BOULDER FIELDS, SUBALPINE MEADOWS, ALPINE MEADOWS, I'VE LEARNED THE BOTANY, I'VE LEARNED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY LEARN AND LOVED IT AND FOR ABOUT TWELVE YEARS I CLIMBED INTO THE TUNDRA ABOUT THREE TIMES A WEEK AND JUST LOVED IT.
AND DID MY WORK AT NIGHT, YOU KNOW, I CAME OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS AT DARK AND WENT HOME, ATE MY SUPPER AND THEN WROTE BOOKS.
>>LORENE: SO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO READ MORE HERE, WRITING AS A NATURALIST, CAN READ MY HEART BELONGS TO NATURE: A MEMOIR , ALSO SEVERAL OF THESE OTHER BOOKS, WHEN MOUNTAINS DIE IS ONE.
>>JOHN: IF MOUNTAINS DIE .
BILL DAVIS PHOTOGRAPHS.
>>LORENE: THE LAST BEAUTIFUL DAYS OF AUTUMN , WHAT A SWEET TITLE.
A FRAGILE BEAUTY AND ON THE MESA .
>>JOHN: ON THE MESA .
>>LORENE: BUT WE HAVE BEEN TALKING FOR TWO VISITS ABOUT YOUR BRAND NEW BIOGRAPHY OR MEMOIR CALLED I GOT MINE AND I'M GOING TO ASK YOU THE FAVOR.
THIS IS FROM A BLUES SONG.
>>JOHN: IT IS, THE TITLE.
>>LORENE: AND SO YOU HAVE BROUGHT YOUR GUITAR, I HOPE IT SURVIVED THE TRIP FROM TAOS.
>>JOHN: ME TOO.
>>LORENE: BUT I LOVE IT IF YOU COULD TAKE A MOMENT AND MAYBE WE COULD GO OUT ON YOUR PLAYING, THIS BLUES SONG, WHICH WAS WRITTEN BY, IT'S A CLASSIC.
>>JOHN: IT WAS WRITTEN IN 1901 BY TWO MEN IN NEW ORLEANS AND HAS SURVIVED OVER THE YEARS AS A TRADITIONAL SONG, WRITTEN BY, REWRITTEN AND ADDED TO, SUBTRACTED TO, BY MANY, MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
AND FINALLY I HEARD IT ON A PINK ANDERSON RECORD, FROM 1961, BUT IT'S ALSO RY COODER HAS DONE A VERSION... >>LORENE: PEOPLE WILL RECOGNIZE IT WAS JUST A GREAT, GREAT TITLE TO DO AND THIS IS BY THE WAY, YOUR OWN DRAWING, BECAUSE YOU WERE ALSO AN ARTIST.
BUT LET'S TAKE A MOMENT, WE'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO TUNE UP AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK.
>>JOHN: ALL RIGHT.
>>LORENE: TO YOUR PLAYING, (SINGING AND PLAYING GUITAR) >>JOHN: "I WENT TO CRAP GAME, THE OTHER NIGHT.
CERTAINLY WAS AGAINST MY WILL.
I LOST ALL THE MONEY I HAD EXCEPT A GREENBACK DOLLAR BILL.
$40 BET WAS LYING ON THE FLOOR, MY BUDDY'S POINT WAS NINE, THEN THE POLICE BROKE DOWN THAT DOOR, BUT I GOT MINE.
I GOT MINE, DADDY, I GOT MINE.
GRABBED ALL THE MONEY, PUT IT INTO MY POCKET, OUT THE BACK DOOR I WENT FLYING.
EVER SINCE THIS BIG CRAP GAME.
I'VE BEEN DINING ON CHICKEN AND WINE, I'M A LEADER IN HIGH SOCIETY, THERE'S A BARBERSHOP WAY CROSS TOWN, LOCATED UP ON WATER STREET.
THE ONLY PLACE ON SATURDAY NIGHT WHERE ALL THE GAMBLERS LIKE TO MEET.
SOME PEOPLE THEY LIKE TO HAVE FUN, OTHER PEOPLE LIKE TO HAVE CRAPS SEEING ME, MY BUDDY, HANGING AROUND THERE, WE MEAN TO SHOOT SOME CRAPS .
AND SEVEN, 11, WON'T YOU COME, COME, COME.
IF THAT'S SEVEN, 11, DON'T COME, I'M DONE, DONE, DONE.
IF I SEE THE POLICE BEFORE THEY SEE ME, I'M GONNA RUN, RUN, RUN.
I'M A LEADER IN HIGH SOCIETY, BOYS, EVER SINCE I GOT MINE, EVER SINCE I GOT MINE.
I WENT TO MY BEST GAL'S HOUSE LAST NIGHT, THE HOUR WAS JUST ABOUT NINE.
I WASN'T DRESSED UP LIKE HENRY FORD, BUT I WAS FEELING JUST AS FINE.
I CAUGHT HER SITTING ON ANOTHER GUY'S LAP AND I REALLY DIDN'T LIKE THAT SIGN.
TALK ABOUT A RASCAL GETTING IN TROUBLE, I GOT MINE, YEAH, I GOT MINE.
I GOT MINE, DADDY, I GOT MINE.
I GRABBED MY HAT AND OUT THE WINDOW I WENT FLYING.
THAT FELLA HAD A BIG SHOTGUN, KNOWED HOW TO USE IT FINE.
TALK ABOUT A RASCAL RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE, I WOUND UP RUNNING FOR MINE.
I GOT MINE, DADDY, I GOT MINE.
GRABBED ALL THE MONEY, PUT IT INTO MY POCKET, OUT THE BACK DOOR I WENT FLYING.
EVER SINCE THAT BIG CRAP GAME I'VE BEEN DINING ON CHICKEN AND WINE, I'M A LEADER IN HIGH SOCIETY BOY, >>LORENE: THANK YOU.
I DIDN'T KNOW ALL THOSE VERSES, THAT IS GREAT.
AND IT'S THE PERFECT WAY TO END OUR SHOW ABOUT YOUR NEW MEMOIR CALLED , I GOT MINE .
>>JOHN : I GOT MINE.
>>LORENE: JOHN NICHOLS, IT'S BEEN A REAL PLEASURE, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
>>JOHN: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.
>>LORENE: AND I'M LORENE MILLS, I'D LIKE TO THANK YOU OUR AUDIENCE FOR BEING WITH US TODAY ON REPORT FROM SANTA FE.
REPORT FROM SANTA FE IS MADE POSSIBLE, IN PART, BY GRANTS FROM THE NEW MEXICO MUNICIPAL LEAGUE, A BETTER NEW MEXICO THROUGH BETTER CITIES AND FROM