A Bum
A bum? I guess so,
It’s true I haven’t a dime
My clothes are dusty and dirty
And I’m lousy ‘bout half the time
But I’ve got a reason stranger
And a pretty good one too
Sit down on this bench right here
And I’ll spin a yarn for you
My story begins in Joplin
Back where I was born and raised
The son of a southern preacher
So you can bet that I’d been saved
I worked in a bank as a teller
I was a singer in the baptist choir
Why everyone said that my future
Was all that anyone could desire
Then a show came to our city
It was called the Broadway Pips
It had some almost naked women
That could surely shake their hips
Now the one that fills my story
Was a little blued eyed dream
With a body like Milo de Venus
And a face all peaches and cream
She did a dancing double
With a slick haired guy called Al
And I guess from all that happened
She was more than just his pal
But she said she could learn to love me
If only I had a roll
So blinded by her sly suggestions
I closed my eyes and I stole
I paid a half a million dollars
For just one night of her charms
Then I awoke in a distant city
With nothing but empty arms
Yea she flew the coup with the money
The slick haired guy’d gone, too
The coppers came and got me
And my brief romance was through
Yes I’m an ex convict stranger
That’s why I’m only a bo
I can’t go to work in the city
‘Cause I’m hounded wherever I go
I can’t get a job with a Union
I seems like I’m fresh outta luck
How’s that for a story stranger
And say, could you slip me a buck!
