All Of My Heroes Died Nameless

All of my heroes died nameless in boxcars
Or loveless in back alleys looking for whores
Or freezing in heroin squats with near strangers
Or rented apartments they couldn't afford

All of my heroes died nameless in transit
In parking lots, stairwells and derelict bars
In rancid tents stinking of piss in a beer can
Or curled in the cold on a bed of damp card

All of my heroes died nameless mid-stanza
Penning the piece they would never perform
Dreaming and daring and drinking and dying
Out here on the whim of a frost or a storm

All of my heroes died nameless, the hoboes
The vagabonds, troubadours, outlaws and clowns
Laughing and spitting and screaming and dying
To live on forever but, more, to get out

All of my heroes died nameless so I don't
Try to be anyone I know by name
I just hope anonymity leads to my heroes
Then, posthumously, we are one and the same.

Them Girls (Think Of Something Cool To Say)

Them girls
All chrome and leather
All denim and smoke
Like me but better

Them girls
Bleeding music and art
I want them so bad
To break my heart

To lead me from the night
Through the break of day
All's I gotta do
Is think of something cool to say

Them girls
They get so wild
Like fireworks inside
Set off with a smile

Ferris wheels at night
Spinning 'round and 'round
Them big, bright lights
Fill the shadows on the ground

Lead me from the night
Through the break of day
All's I gotta do
Is think of something cool to say

One of these days the girl who works at the coffee shop on my street
That I see spinning through the night all circus-hearted
Will wake me up for coffee as I lay there in her bed
In her bijou bohemian apartment

Them girls
With make-up smudged
Drop their pizza on the ground
Just pick it up

They laugh it off
I wish I could know
The wildness of them girls
But I guess I'll just go home

I Like Playing In Bars

I like playing in bars, yes I do
I like singing songs about me to people like you
If heaven is a place on Earth
It's a dimly lit bar where beer is served
By an angel of a waitress in a low-cut shirt

I like singing for beer up here on stage
I get more free beer than I could buy if I even got paid
I love a hard-drinking crowd
'Cos the more that you drink then the better I sound
And what the hell else am I gonna do anyway?

'Cos being poor is something that you get used to
And travlin' with a hangover is something that you can live through
A ramblin' man's hardest lesson
Is knowing not everybody's gonna wanna listen
And sometimes it's hard holding out for the ones that do

They say all you need is three chords and the truth
Well, I added a minor and some things that I didn't really do
Even if you're front row
And you're trying really hard you still wouldn't know
The truth from the lies and why would you want to?

I like getting old and getting free

Even if neither one pays a whole lotta money

Money ain't what life's about

At least I hope not anyhow

'Cos if it is things really ain't working out for me

But being poor is something that you get used to
And travlin' with a hangover is something that you can live through
A ramblin' man's hardest lesson
Is knowing not everybody's gonna wanna listen
And sometimes it's hard holding out for the ones that do

They say that life on the road is good for the soul
My leather-skinned, dog-eared, weather-worn excuse for a soul
We're all trying to tempt The Devil
'Cos if he buys it everybody buys your record
And I don't need much but I do need something just to keep off the cold

I got a beautiful wife I'm trying to not drive away
And I got a little boy who needs feeding, turns out, everyday
So if you could reach down into your pocket
And pull me out a 5 or 10 if you got it
Recent studies suggest that helping the needy can keep heart disease at bay

I like playing in bars yes I do
I like singing songs about me to people like you
No matter how hard I try
I'm never getting more than just getting by
But there are worse things and I'll be happy til the day that I die

'Cos being poor is something that you get used to
And travlin' with a hangover is something that you can live through
Did I mention as well
That I got CD's and  a T-shirt to sell?
And, Lord, have I got a special price for you