Merle's Boogie Woogie
Merle Travis Lyrics

Merle Travis's song, Merle's Boogie Woogie, paints a picture of a lively and energetic scene at around midnight. The singer declares that they are shutting the door and nobody can come in or go out. They're feeling a boogie woogie that they've had all night long, and it's so strong that their mother won't let them come home. The singer then talks about their "little girl" who has "great big legs" and walks as if she's walking on soft-boiled eggs. Their boogie woogie feeling intensifies, and they repeat the refrain that their mother won't let them come home when they feel this way.

The song's next verse highlights two types of people the singer can't tolerate: a lying woman and a sneaking man. The boogie woogie feeling is still prevalent and it dominates the song's mood. The third verse is rather nonsensical, with the singer reciting a riddle: "Now what did the rat say to the mouse, I wanna see you down at my house." The boogie woogie feeling is vibrant and ongoing, and the singer slips in a bit of math trivia by stating that six times six is thirty-six and that they won't hit anything else besides another six. They repeat the song's final refrain: that they have a boogie woogie feeling, and their mother can't keep them home.