Papa Rocks — A lively adult father plays electric guitar from a rocking chair on a bright Merced porch while his adult family dances, cooks and repairs a car

The songbook

Papa Rocks

Words by Douglas Heyes Jr. Listen to the recorded versions and follow the lyric below.

Original Doug Heyes lyrics · AI-generated music & vocals

An extravagant portrait of an aging performer follows wealth, touring, partying and flirtation into increasingly dubious behavior. Papa's charm carries him past one confrontation, but a story he denies soon catches up with him. The celebration of his stage presence is threaded with the contradictions and consequences of his offstage bravado.

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Recorded versions

3 recordings. Different voices and arrangements bring another side of the song into the light.

Lyrics

Papa Rocks

Words by Douglas Heyes Jr

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PAPA ROCKS

He picks up a Woman in a little black dress
Papa Rocks, Papa Rocks, and her makeup is a mess
Early Sunday morning, it is anybody's guess
Papa Rocks, Papa Rocks while he's taking off her dress
Papa Rocks, Papa Rocks when he's up there on the stage
Got a little girl on both arms, they are less than half his age
Man, does Papa Rock in every single kind of way
We’ll be rolling back the Rock for a shot at Yesterday

Papa went Downtown for to start another Show
All the Ladies follow him wherever he go
He got a bag on his shoulder with a lot of Cash inside
Punches pedal to the metal, he gonna take us for a ride
Papa Rocks, he sets his clock up on Greenwich mean Time
He watches in-flight movies when he's up there flyin’ high
I can say that I am lucky  cuz he is a friend of mine
Now he's off to Kentucky to put his Money on the line

Papa loves the Ponies, like he loves the little girls
He bought himself a big Estate on the far side of the World
He got Rastaman Jamaican blood, skin the color of the Mississippi mud
He got a voice like a Bullfrog or a Bumblebee
He got a Mustang Sally and a Molly on the side
He bought a Red Ferrari just to take ‘em for a ride
He took on a Manager who pays off all his bills
And he's livin’ in a Mansion up in Beverly Hills

We got Rockers, Rappers, Singers and some Dancers
You want to pop a cap, man, the trigger is the answer
Don't be doing that round here, just crack yourself another beer
Flyin’ through the Atmosphere with a double shot of Everclear
Everybody parties here, just the kind of thing we do
You've been runnin’ after me while I've been chasin’ you
We go around in Circles till our Brown Eyes turn to Blue
Monday Morning, back to work right down beside the Bayou

Papa Rocks, Papa Rocks, he ain't lookin’ at the Clock
He got stopped by a Cop and he made him Walk the Chalk
The Cop said, Man, I gotta take you to Jail
Papa reached in his pocket and said let me make my bail
The Cop took a look at the cash in Papa's hand
He said, Man, understand, I'm just a Singer in a Band
I'm flyin’ through the Universe, and I don't have a plan
The Cop just grinned and shook his head, said, you don't understand

There's a girl back in town, and she says you knocked her up
On a cold winter night in a Chevy pickup truck
Papa kind of looked at him and just said what the fuck?
I don't even own a freakin’ pickup truck
I'm just an old Musician with a too familiar face
Take another look, I'm just like half the human race
Man, I gotta go to play a brand-new place
Hey Man, I got a plan, I'm going to lay the place to waste

Papa came on about 11:00, the Boys in the Band were really hot to Rock
The girl from downtown was kickin’ back in Bobby socks
There's a Thunder from outside from that screamin’ pickup truck
Turns out that Papa lied and he really pushed his luck
Papa Rocks, Papa Rocks, he ain't never gonna stop
Gonna take us all to school like a cool silver fox
You'll be lookin’ like a fool in a cardboard box
Open up Pandora's Box by just pickin’ all her locks

OUTRO:
Papa Rocks, Papa Rocks, till your dad out on the floor
See you later, Papa Rocks, we'll be coming back for more
*********