Strangers
Sweet and Sour Camels Lyrics

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I'm a stranger here, just blowed in your town,
I'm a stranger here, just blowed in your town,
Just because I'm a stranger everybody wants to dog me around,
Lord, I wonder do my good gal know I'm here?
Lord, wonder do my good gal know I'm here,
Well, if she do she sure don't seem to care.
I wonder how can some people dog a poor stranger so,
I wonder how can some people dog a poor stranger so,

They should remember they gonna reap what they sow.
I would stay up North but there's nothing here that I can do,
I would stay up North but there's nothing here that I can do,
But hang around this corner and sing the poor stranger blues.
Mama, I am going back south if I wear ninety nine pair of shoes,

Mama, I am going back south if I wear ninety nine pair of shoes,
Then I know I'll be welcome and I won't have the stranger's blues.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Sweet and Sour Camels' song "Strangers" speak about feeling like an outsider in a new town. The singer is a stranger in this town, and immediately feels the negative effects of being an outsider. People are "dogging" the singer, treating them poorly and disrespectfully simply because they are unfamiliar. Despite this mistreatment, the singer wonders if their loved ones know they are there, and even if they do, they don't seem to care.

The singer expresses frustration at the way strangers are treated in this town, and wonders how people can be so cruel. They warn the people who are mistreating them that they will "reap what they sow", meaning that their actions will have consequences. Despite wanting to leave and go back to the South where they belong, the singer feels stuck in this town with nothing to do but sing the blues of the poor stranger.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm a stranger here, just blowed in your town,
I just arrived in this town and I am a complete stranger here.

Just because I'm a stranger everybody wants to dog me around,
Everyone here treats me badly because I am a stranger.

Lord, I wonder do my good gal know I'm here?
I wonder if my girlfriend knows that I am here in this town.

Well, if she do she sure don't seem to care.
Even if she does know, it seems like she doesn't care about me at all.

I wonder how can some people dog a poor stranger so,
I don't understand why people treat a poor, helpless stranger so badly.

They should remember they gonna reap what they sow.
Those people should remember that what goes around comes around.

I would stay up North but there's nothing here that I can do,
I would stay in the North, but there's nothing for me to do here.

But hang around this corner and sing the poor stranger blues.
So I'll just hang out on this street corner and sing about my woes as a poor stranger.

Mama, I am going back south if I wear ninety nine pair of shoes,
Mom, I am so unhappy here that I will go back to the South even if it means walking with ninety nine pairs of shoes.

Then I know I'll be welcome and I won't have the stranger's blues.
I know that I will be welcomed in the South and I won't feel like such an outsider anymore.

Lyrics © ACORN PUBLISHING
Written by: ELMORE JAMES, MARSHALL E SEHORN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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