lyrics
Ol' Snakeskin
July 1, 1993
Well I'm sittin' here on this hobo train
Just tryin' to think of all the people that I could blame
For this predicament that I'm in now that I've run away from home
I'm just an angry young man who just can't seem to get along
Now there's an old man that I got to know sittin' next to me He smokes really cheap cigars and call himself Snakeskin Connoly He knows somethin' 'bout everything and he swears it's all true Some other bum told me he won't shut-up there's nothing we can do
Old man why don't you just quiet down I know you're trying hard but you're never gonna make this frown Disappear from my face until I get some peace of mind I wish there was a way to leave this old cootin' codger behind
Hey, hey, hey you're just an old man I don't care what you say
Now we've gone five-hundred miles on up the California line Ol' Snakeskin hasn't shut-up yet, he's tellin' stories all the time Nobody cares about the war or about how many men you killed And I don't really give a damn 'bout your Tennessee moonshine still
Old man won't you listen to me and my bitter truth I'm a product of a broken home and resentful of my shattered youth And I don't want to hear you rambling on and on through the night Your stories don't amuse me and your advice will never change my plight
Hey, hey, hey, you're just an old man I don't care what you say
Now weeks had passed on the hobo train as we chugged across the land And something changed inside my heart- something that I hadn't planned And when ol' Snakeskin was around I listened to him for awhile He seemed to be a man of strength who faced his hardships with a smile
Now one day as we chugged along I looked around to my surprise Ol' Snakeskin was nowhere in sight - somebody told me that he died My heart clenched like a knotted fist I never thought it'd come to this He lived his life out on the tracks and now he wasn't comin' back
Old man wherever you may be, in heaven I hope you can hear Try to understand I'm just a boy full of hate anger and fear And though I didn't listen to you until the very end I feel it in my heart that on this earth you were my only friend
Now there's an old man that I got to know sittin' next to me He smokes really cheap cigars and call himself Snakeskin Connoly He knows somethin' 'bout everything and he swears it's all true Some other bum told me he won't shut-up there's nothing we can do
Old man why don't you just quiet down I know you're trying hard but you're never gonna make this frown Disappear from my face until I get some peace of mind I wish there was a way to leave this old cootin' codger behind
Hey, hey, hey you're just an old man I don't care what you say
Now we've gone five-hundred miles on up the California line Ol' Snakeskin hasn't shut-up yet, he's tellin' stories all the time Nobody cares about the war or about how many men you killed And I don't really give a damn 'bout your Tennessee moonshine still
Old man won't you listen to me and my bitter truth I'm a product of a broken home and resentful of my shattered youth And I don't want to hear you rambling on and on through the night Your stories don't amuse me and your advice will never change my plight
Hey, hey, hey, you're just an old man I don't care what you say
Now weeks had passed on the hobo train as we chugged across the land And something changed inside my heart- something that I hadn't planned And when ol' Snakeskin was around I listened to him for awhile He seemed to be a man of strength who faced his hardships with a smile
Now one day as we chugged along I looked around to my surprise Ol' Snakeskin was nowhere in sight - somebody told me that he died My heart clenched like a knotted fist I never thought it'd come to this He lived his life out on the tracks and now he wasn't comin' back
Old man wherever you may be, in heaven I hope you can hear Try to understand I'm just a boy full of hate anger and fear And though I didn't listen to you until the very end I feel it in my heart that on this earth you were my only friend
© j. Wilford, 7/93