He was a wino, tried and true
Done about everything there is to do
He worked on freighters, he worked in bars
He worked on farms, he worked on cars
Well, it was white port that put that look in his eye
Grown men get when they need to cry
We sat down on the curb to rest
His head just fell down on his chest
He says, "Every single day, it gets
Just little bit harder to handle and yet"
Then he lost the thread and his mind got cluttered
And the words just rolled off down in the gutter
Well, he was a elevator man in a cheap hotel
In exchange for the rent on a one room cell
And he's old, years beyond his time
Now thanks to the world and the white Port wine
So he said, "Son," he always called me son
Said, "Life for you has just begun"
And he told me the story I'd heard before
How he fell in love with a Dallas who*e
Now he could cut through the years to the very night
But it ended in a who*e house fight
She turned his last proposal down
In favor of being a girl about town
Now it's been seventeen years right in line
He ain't been straight none of the time
It's too many days of fightin' the weather
And too many nights of not being together
So he died
When they went through his personal affects
In among the stubs from the welfare checks
Was a crumblin' picture of a girl rolled in a door
And an address in Dallas and nothin' more
The welfare people provided the priest
A couple from the mission down the street
Sang amazing grace and no one cried
'Cept some lady in black, way off to the side
We all left and she is standing there
A black veil covering her silver hair
One-eyed John said her name was Alice
And she used to be a who*e in Dallas
So let him roar, Lord, let him roll
I bet he's gone to Dallas, rest his soul
Just to let him roll, Lord, let him roar
He always said that heaven was just a Dallas who*e
Just to let him roll, Lord, let him roar
I bet he's gone to Dallas, rest his soul