Behind the old man's eyes there's a story on the brain
And inside every bottle there's the whistle of a train
A night in stir is nothing more than shelter from the rain
He hopped aboard a westbound back in 1963
It jumped the tracks at midnight outside of Kankakee
No harm done, a hobo's legs torn off below the knees
Midnight Willie, won't you sing that song again?
Midnight Willie, won't you sing that song again?
He sits there in the shadows of the hotel Monterey
And every quarter on the step is ten more songs he'll play
I got no use for small change in my pocket anyway
Midnight Willie, won't you sing that song again?
Midnight Willie, won't you sing that song again?
"There's nothin' more to livin' boy
Than everything you ever done
If fate don't catch you standin' still
It'll catch you on the run . . .
Yeah, it'll catch you on the run
Me, I'm just another settin' sun . . .
Yeah, I'm just another settin' sun"
(Ahh . . . got a smoke there son?)
And when the day is over and the town has gone to bed
He crawls down to the corner for some juice to line his head
Running dry out on the skids, a man could wake up dead
Behind the old man's eyes there's a story on the brain
And in that broken bottle you can hear a westbound train
A hobo dies out on the skids, a quarter to his name . . .
Midnight Willie, won't you sing that song again?
Midnight Willie, man won't you sing that song again?