Gene and Gayla Mills

Lyrics

I said “I’ll be right back,” set down my guitar
Stepped down from the stage, walked up to the bar
A man came up and told me, “Man, I like the way you play,
Do you think that I could play one song while you’re on break?”

His eyes were red and rheumy, his hands tried not to shake,
You could see he had the kind of thirst he couldn’t slake
But his belt was buckled on the side, and I said “oh all right”
He picked up my guitar and stepped up to the mic

Chorus:
He sang “The Streets of Baltimore” like he was standing there
You could see those neon lights, taste that city air
His voice was full of smoke and fire like whisky on your tongue
If whisky had a voice, that’s the way it would have sung

As soon as he began to sing, I knew who he’d been
I knew where he’d been headed till the whisky did him in
Many times I’d seen him on a larger, higher stage
I hadn’t known him on account of how his face had changed

Whisky wore him down the way water does to stone
Nearly everything he used to be was nearly gone
Everything was washed away except his voice alone
Stone is not as strong as the way he sang a song

Chorus

Half the dozen people there, they didn’t hear a thing
The other half stopped talking just to listen to him sing
I closed my eyes and watched him till the last note died
He stepped down and thanked me, and walked into the night

Chorus