I’ll tell you, friends, I ain’t no saint
Not proud of every move I’ve made
Dropped out of class in fifty-two
And hung around the pool hall
Korean war was hot ‘n heavy
‘n me? Plumb full of hell ‘n grit
That war was hollerin’ my name
Altered my birth certificate ‘n went
Fifteen year old brat in a foxhole
They all called me ‘the kid’
A lot of ‘em never came home, but I did
And each fella there taught me something
Growin’ up ain’t never easy
But y’ know when you’ve become a man
Y’ work your tired butt off
And raise your kids to be real people
I’ll leave this earth as poor as I entered it
‘n that don’t bother me a whit
Just scribe somewhere on my marker
He was a good man