- for my old friend Pam -
Way back in Royersford in '82,
they'd take a beef that had been chopped and stewed,
use ice cream scoops to put it in a bun
and serve it up in cafeterias. That's fun…
To think of all the crazy things we ate
and what we called them. Could it be too late
to conjure up the faces of that girl
and boy who had the baddest names in high school?
His name was Joe and hers was Jo-jo Lee.
Then they got married and so now they're three.
And now they go by "Sloppy Joe and Jo-jo."
And how 'bout Baby Jo?
"Sloppy Jo-jo-jo."
Though she is only three years small,
Sloppy Jejojah
already eats the thing she's called.
Sloppy Jejojah.
Junior high cafeteria.
Sloppy Jejojah -
patented in America,
way back in old America.
Joe lost his taxi job in '95.
He had to think about how they'd survive.
A traveler told him of the golden buck
outstreaming from the other hemisphere's good luck.
Three one-way tickets out to Singapore -
the first stop for the three (and later four -
for Sloppy Jo-jo-jo-jo's come along,
and now they find that they're, in number, four strong).
They went to Hong Kong next, and then Taipei -
a full day's journey from where night is day.
A gold mine trafficking in the Western face -
the modern luck of place.
Sloppy Jejojah.
No English schools to put her in.
Sloppy Jejojah.
Fluent in Thai and Mandarin.
Sloppy Jejojah.
("oh" in the middle; others, schwa).
Sloppy Jejojah
Rhyme it along with Jehovah.
Way back in old America.
Joe runs a cheap café with Jo-jo Lee
and doubles as an extra on TV.
At nights they teach the kitchen how to spell,
and you can guess their daily Daily Special.
If your diploma isn’t worth a damn,
or else you’re tired of your native land,
there’s always work for you to find out east –
that is, the East beyond our own East. At least,
you’ve got a face that’s wanted and a tongue.
And don’t despair if you’re no longer young.
I’d chaperone you over here if I could,
invite you for a good
Sloppy Jejojah.
Never forget your native eats,
Sloppy Jejojah –
even if it’s just dripping grease.
Sloppy Jejojah.
Small town in Pennsylvania.
Sloppy Jejojah.
Home of the sloppy mania.
Junior high cafeteria.
Way back in old America.
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