\It was an early morning bar room and the place just opened up
And
the little man came in so fast and started at his cups
And
the broad who served the whiskey was a big old friendly girl
Who
tried to fight her empty nights by smiling at the world
And
she said “Hey Bub, it’s been awhile since you’ve been around.
Where
the hell you been hiding and why you look so down.”
Well,
the little man just sat there, like he’d never heard a sound…
The
waitress, she gave out with a cough, and acting not the least put off, she
spoke once again...
She
said, “I don’t want to bother you, consider it’s understood,
And
I know I ‘m not no beauty queen, but I sure can listen good.”
Then
the little man took his drink in his hand and raised it to his lips
He
took a couple of sips, and then he told the waitress this story.
“I
am the midnight watch man down at Miller’s Tool & Die
And
I watch the metal rusting. I watch the
time go by.”
A
week ago at the diner, I stopped to get a bite,
And
this here lovely lady, she sat two seats to my right
And
Lord, Lord, Lord….Lord, Lord, Lord….she was alright
Well
she was so damned beautiful, she could warm a winter frost
But
she looked plumb past lonely, and well night unto lost
Now
I’m not much of a mover, or a pick-em-up-easy guy
But
I decided to glide on over, and give here one good try
And
Lord, Lord, Lord, ...Lord, Lord, Lord,... she was worth a try
I
was tongue tied like a school boy, I stammered out some words
It
did not seem to matter much cause I don’t think she heard
She
just looked clear on through me to a space inside my head
And
shamed me into silence, when quietly she said
“If
you want me to come with you, well, that’s all right with me
‘Cause
I know I’m going nowhere, and anywhere’s a better place to be.”
Well,
I drove her back to my boarding house and I took her up to my room
And went to turn on the only light that
brightened up the gloom
But
she said, “Please leave the light off, cause I don’t mind the dark.”
And
as the clothes all tumbled ‘round her, I could hear my heart..
The
moonlight shown upon her as she lay back in my bed
It
was the kind of scene I only had imagined in my head
I
just could not believe it, to think that she was real
And
when I tried to tell her, she said,
“Shsssssss,
I know just how your feel.”
“And
if you want to come here with me, well that’s all right with me
“Cause
I been oh so lonely, loving someone is a better way to be..”
Anywhere’s
a better place to be.
The
morning came so swiftly as I held her in my arms,
And
she slept like a baby, warm and safe from harm
I
did not want to share her or dare to break the mood
So
before she woke I went out to buy us both some food
I
came back with my paper bag to find that she was gone
She’d
left a six word letter, saying...
“It’s
time that I moved on…”
You
know the waitress, she took her bar rag and wiped it across her eyes
And
when she spoke her voice came out as something like a sigh
She
said “I wish that I was beautiful or that you were half-way blind.
“And
I wish I weren’t so goddamned fat...I wish that you were mine.
And
I wish that you’d come with me when I leave for home
Cause
we both know all about loneliness and living all alone.”
And
the little man looked at the empty glass in his hand
And
smile a crooked grin, he said, I..I guess I’m out of gin
And
I know we both have been so lonely….
And
if you want me to come with you, well that’s alright with me
Cause
I know I’m going no where and anywhere’s a better place to be
Anywhere’s
a better place to be….
