Lonely Man

It was Friday night nearly 10:15
I was almost asleep on the bar
There was an old man sitting next to me
lighting up a few 10 cent cigars

For hours the place had been empty
filled with nothing but silence and smoke
when the old man turned and spoke to me
after clearing the blues from his throat

He said, "Son, can I tell you something?"
as he slowly let go of his smile
"I'm not asking for pity or anything,
but would you mind listening for a while?

This is a song for the lonely man
though I'm not really sure how it goes
but he sits here again with his glass and a friend
and it's better than drinking alone

As he sat in the shadows of loneliness
like a disheartened iconoclast
he mused that he knew that she loved him less
than the ice at the end of his glass

While the bartender poured him a memory
he filled up his face with a smile
and he said, "Doc, the man who I used to be
hasn't shown up 'round here for a while"

Then he paused from his trite conversation
all the courage was gone from his breath
said "she left me with no hesitation
and that's a debt that I'll pay 'till my death"

This is a song for the lonely man
though I'm not really sure how it goes
but he cries here after telling me about her
and it's better than crying alone

He didn't seem like a fitting role model
when he told me his son was his life
but then he said he put down the bottle
for the woman that became his wife

So when he asked me why everyone leaves him
I was not really sure what to say
but he hopelessly answered his question
saying "it doesn't matter anyway"

It was around the 4th of December
when they lowered him into his grave
and his headstone read "those who remember
he promised he always forgave"

This is a song for the lonely man
though I'm not really sure how it goes
but while he died in the end he could call me a friend
and it's better than dying alone