Key: G
Introduction: G C G C
G C
Sitting on a park bench soaking up the sun
G
Singing to the children and the people passing by
C F
With a bottle in a paper bag and a banjo at your side
C
Anyone would know you if they'd take the time to look
F C G
Underneath those ragged clothes they'd read you like a book
C F
They'd see it in your eyes, the corners of your smile
C G C G C
There's more to this old street bum than too many dusty miles
The motel room must get so very small
G C
A bed and a chair and memories on the wall
G
In a city full of strangers far away from times
C F
You've made that banjo ring in across a picket line
C F
You go downstairs and out on the street
C G C
Sit there waiting for everyone you meet
G
Some they ignore you, some they ask you why
C
Some they dance to the tune you're playing to the sky
G
Passing through a city, one day you'll see him there
C
Stop and listen to his tunes, let him know you hear
G
Put a dollar in the box that sits there at his feet
C
Tip your hat to the man who's singing in the street
F C
'Cause if you stop and listen, you'll hear it every time
F C G
Melodies around you, the rhythms and the rhymes
C F
In the stares of passing strangers, questions of the young
C G C
The barking of a stray dog and the memories of a street bum
G C
The barking of a stray dog and the memories of a street bum