He was a short order cook, and not too much to look at And he traded in his foot, for a medal in the war He loved a girl named Lila, in a bar across the highway And you ought to see him smilin' at her comin' through the door Lila always knew, she wasn't no ravin' beauty She traded in her virtue to a trucker at sixteen But she forgets to remember how he left her off in Denver When she sees her Cooky smilin' as she opens up the screen And he says "Hi Lila, how about a cup of coffee? Take a load off, take your shoes off, here's the sugar and the cream" Cooky's been to war and Lila's been to Denver And both of them are casualties of someone else's dream Cooky pours the trucker's coffee, Lila serves the rigger's whiskey And resists their invitations to go ridin' for a while 'Cause at a diner across the highway, on a shelf above the pastry There's a cup reserved for Lila and the man who makes her smile When he says "Hi Lila, how about a cup of coffee? Take a load off, take your shoes off, here's the sugar and the cream" 'Cause Cooky's been to war and Lila's been to Denver And both of them are casualties of someone else's dream Now as the nation rolls along, like a semi down the highway Casting lonely broken bodies in the gra** along the road I've finally found a reason for believing in the future Seeing Cooky and his Lila drinking coffee all alone Oh yes "Hi Lila, how about a cup of coffee? Take a load off, take your shoes off, here's the sugar and the cream" 'Cause Cooky's been to war and Lila's been to Denver And both of them are casualties of someone else's dream Cooky's been to war, Lord and Lila's been to Denver And both of them are casualties of someone else's dream