Floating in the lower nine
Waiting for a boat to throw me a line
See my Stella smile
Sitting on the roof eating alligator pie
First day the water rise
Second day the sun is high
Third day Stella cried cause night times dark as a dead man's eye's

Tell me when is help gonna come
Stella said daddy when you gonna put me in a song?

Morning ride on by thank lord everybody's alright
Don't mean to throw us a second line
The devil left us here to die

Stella said daddy when you gonna put me in a song?

All the things we know and
Everything we hoped for
All the things we wanted
Everything that was sure
Now there is a scar
Where the old men used to be
The corner store and market
Where Stella used to sing to me

Grace is all i'm asking
When will grace return

Remember how I feel in those days of the summertime
Then Stella smiled
Stella said daddy when you gonna put me in a song?

Tell me lord when help is gonna come
Daddy when you gonna put me in a song?



Lyrics submitted by MidwestDrummer


Alligator Pie (Cockadile) song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Being a fan for as long as I have I can say that I have listened to each album numerous times, almost to a point that someone should slap me and say" Damn you man, there is other music."
    One thing I have always thought when reviewing lyrics of Daves is that they change in meaning to me over the years. I take what I think they mean in relation to my own self, and I try to understand what his meaning is.
    I wake up each morning and listen to this song with my daughter as I feed her. (Currently nine months old and named Gracie after DM's Grace) She hearts the dog bark and gets excited. She loves this song as do I.
    Its a playful story that I feels talks about Katrina and his daughter at the same time. It's like two days after the storm, Dave and Stella are waiting to be rescued and while he worries about whats going on around him Stella is concerned that her twin is getting all the lryical love. I think it was a great way to write a song in an upbeat way giving that New Orleans feel. Its authentic. Yes its sad in the sense of the horrible thing that happened to the ninth ward, and yes I do believe that he references George Bush as the devil, it all makes sense. Could I be way off, yes, because being such a hardcore fan I have heard different meanings, but In my opinion this song is pretty straight forward.

    A well done song by a group of seasoned musicians and one very missed sax player. You broke my heart the day you died.
    Flag chefjustinon December 31, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song IS about Katrina, the government, etc. . . .
    however, the whole part about "daddy when you gonna put me in a song" probably made it into this song because of the way they wrote the album. collectively, the band wrote music for about 40 songs, then kept cutting them down until they had the album. then dave put words to the songs and he probably needed something extra for Alligator Pie, so he threw Stella in there, asking "Daddy, when you gonna put me in a song?"
    That bit about her actually asking the question seems viable, because the word "grace" does appear in many of his songs, whether it's talking about his daughter Grace, or grace in general. I could see where Stella is coming from on that point, feeling a bit left out :(
    Flag Bsharp10on November 28, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:In an interview about this song Dave was telling a story about his twin daughters Grace and Stella. Dave said that Stella came to him asking why he always puts "Grace" into his songs and not her, and asked when he was going to put her in a song. THAT is one of the reasons why this song was written. Not sure if he wrote this with Katrina in mind either...I know he loves the city of New Orleans and the song reflects that but I havent been convinced he was writing about a hurricane simply because he mentioned water rising.
    Flag GROOGRUXKINGon August 12, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:He isn't writing "about" his daughter grace in most of his songs... as the girls are under the age of idk... 8... and songs like grace is gone is far older- its just a recurring phrase that he uses- more of a it could be about a woman named grace or more of a feeling of grace/happiness...Just like this song- NOT about his daugher necessarily- I think Stella is a "character" in this song- and yes her view on this grave situation (Katrina) is very childlike- however, it is more of a symbol than his real-life daughter. I think its super cute that Stella (daughter) asked Dave why she's not in any of the songs- it has Nothing to do with the girls though... Like the song one of those child-like observations. Just my two cents.
    Flag crushgirlon August 02, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is one of the best songs on the album.

    Slight change:
    Morning ride on by thank lord everybody's alright
    Don't mean to throw us a second line
    The devil broke the levee and left us here to die.

    I find it odd that who ever entered this missed that because the lyrics are written on the album booklet.
    Flag bhall87on July 26, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:why does he always say grace is gone? was that his sisters name?
    Flag ironlungs20on July 06, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:very good point piercwc!!
    That kind of sucks for Stella, Grace does get written about more. Why wouldn't he write more about her?
    Anyways, everyone says this album is lacking in depth. And sure, just listening it sort of does sound like that. But you read the lyrics and it's like "WHAT?!" I love this band. I can't pick a favorite.
    Flag trn3ngoon June 10, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Stella is the main female lead in "Street Car Named Desire" which took place in New Orleans..
    Flag piercwcon June 08, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Also where did the Cockadile thing come from? It's not in the album anywhere as far as I can tell...
    Flag cityondown78on June 06, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's so sweet that he finally wrote a song with Stella in it. Now he just needs to write one about August...
    Flag cityondown78on June 06, 2009   Link

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