Billy The Bum

Lyrics

Billy, the bum lived by the thumb  
And sang of the hobo's delight  
He'd prove he could run  
Twice as fast as the sun  
By losing his shadow at night  
Now he loved every girl  
In this curly headed world  
But no one will know it seems  
For two twisted legs and a childhood disease  
Left Billy just a bum in his dreams  
And he was just a gentle boy  
A real fluorescent light  
Cried pennies on Sunday morning  
Laughs nickels on Saturday night  
And your bullets, they can't harm him  
Nor your knives tear him apart  
Humiliation killed him  
God bless his little heart  
Now he lived all alone in a run down home  
Near the side of the old railroad track  
Where the trains used to run  
Carryin' freight by the ton  
Blow the whistle as Billy'd wave back  
But the children around Billy's home town  
Seemed to have nothin' better to do  
Then run around his house  
With their tongues from their mouth  
Make fun of that crippled old fool  
And he was just a gentle boy  
A real fluorescent light  
Cried pennies on Sunday morning  
Laughs nickels on Saturday night  
And your bullets, they can't harm him  
Nor your knives tear him apart  
Humiliation killed him  
God bless his little heart  
Now some folks they wait and some folks they pray  
For Jesus to rise up again  
But none of these folks in their holy cloaks  
Ever took Billy on as a friend  
For pity's a crime  
And it ain't worth a dime  
To a person who's really in need  
Just treat 'em the same  
As you would your own name  
Next time that your heart starts to bleed  
And he was just a gentle boy  
A real fluorescent light  
Cried pennies on Sunday morning  
Laughs nickels on Saturday night  
And your bullets, they can't harm him  
Nor your knives tear him apart  
Humiliation killed him  
God bless his little heart