Winner

THE WINNER Recorded by Bobby Bare Written by Shel Silverstein The ()hulk of a man with a beer in is hand Looked Glike a drunk old fool And I knew if I hit him right Why I could ()knock him off-a that stool But ever'body they said "Watch out, Hey, that's ()Tiger Man McCool" He's had a ()whole lot of fights And he's always come out a ()WINNER ()WINNER. But I'd had myself about five too many And I walked up tall and proud I faced his back and I faced the fact That he had never stooped or bowed I said, "Tiger Man, you're a pussycat" And a hush fell on the crowd I said let's you and me go outside and see Who's A WINNER. Well, he gripped the bar with one big hairy hand And he braced against the wall He slowly looked up from his beer My God, that man was tall He said boy, I see you're a scrapper So just before you fall I'm gonna tell you just a little 'Bout what it means to be A WINNER. He said "Now you see these bright white smiling teeth You know they ain't my own Mine rolled away like chicklets Down the street in San Antone But I left that person, cursin' Nursin' seven broken bones And he, uh, only broke, uh, three of mine That makes me THE WINNER." He said "Now behind this grin, I got steel pins That holds my jaw in place A trophy of my most successful Motorcycle race And each morning when I wake and touch This scar across my face It reminds me of all I got by being A WINNER." "Now this broken back was a dying act Of a handsome Harry Clay That sticky Cincinnati night I stole his wife away But that woman she gets uglier And she gets meaner every day But I got her, boy that's what makes me A () ()He said "You gotta speak loud when you challenge me son 'Cause it's ()hard for me to hear With this twisted neck and these migrane pains And this ()big old cauliflower ear And if it wasn't for this glass eye of mine Why, I'd ()shed a happy tear To ()think of all you're gonna get By being A ()WINNER." I got ar-th-rit-ic elbows, son I got dislocated knees From pickin' fights with thunderstorms And chargin' into trees And my nose's been broke so often I might lose it if I sneeze And son, you say you still wanna be A WINNER." "Now you remind me a lot of my younger days With your knuckles a-clenchin' white But boy, I'm gonna sit right here And sip this beer all night And if there's somethin' that you gotta gain or prove by winnin' some silly fight Well, OK, I quit, I lose You're THE WINNER." Oh, I stumbled from that barroom Not so tall and not so proud And behind me I still hear the hoots and laughter of the crowd But my eyes still see and my nose still works And my teeth are still in my mouth And you know, I guess that Makes me THE WINNER. ======================================================= | Submitted by: Gene Graham | | [email protected] El Paso, Texas | =======================================================