Poor Old Tom chords by Peter Case
Verse 1
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Tennessee boy joined
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the U .S. Navy in 1950, he was 17.
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A quiet kid who'd never seen the ocean,
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his mama died his first trip at sea.
He learned to work and
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he learned to whistle,
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he learned to gamble
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and he learned to fight.
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He learned to suck a bottle
and go out whoring,
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somehow he learned to
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stagger in at night.
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Poor old Tom, he don't know
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why his teeth gotta rattle,
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shiver and shake.
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The night wind's free to blow
wherever it pleases,
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time's free to walk till the
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cold day breaks.
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Poor old Tom, he's telling it all,
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his thoughts are roaring like a wa terfall
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He never cared about money
and there's no doubt
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he never had much money
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to care about
Through typhoons and calms
on the great Pacific,
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proud to be serving the USA
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He worked hard on board
and he got promoted,
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he got VD but it went away
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Poor old Tom, he ain't right,
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he went out to San Francisco
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on a Saturday night
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Sunday morning, his ship set sail,
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Tom was resting in
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the open jail
Now it's 35 years since his incarceration,
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on a morals charge,
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the words he said to me
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From the brig on Treasure Island
to the institution
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They treated his depression
with shock therapy
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Poor old Tom, he don't know
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He's got trouble recalling his history
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At the drop of a coin he'll start to ramble
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How the whole damn thing's
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a mystery
Now his eyes bulge out
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as we talk on the corner
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Eight turns on the gurney,
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they held him down
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One morning they wheeled him
to another building
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A surgery room
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with doctors standing around
He cried, Lord,
help me as they put him under
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He sailed away on an ether sea
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Ever since that day,
all he does is wonder
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Do surgeons perform a lobotomy?
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For old time, his story's true
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He's got nothing to show,
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don't want to show it too
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The word for him is nevertheless
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He fought for freedom,
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never took a free breath
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Now the radios blare new
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sack and new sack,
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diseases are cured every day.
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The worst disease in the world
is to be unwanted,
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to be used up and cast away.
So as we make our way
towards our destinations,
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fortunes are still made with
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flesh and blood.
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Progress and love got
nothing in common.
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Jesus healed a blind man's eyes
with mud.
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For a time, he don't know why his teeth gotta rattle,
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shiver, and shake.
The night wind's free to blow
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whenever it pleases.
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Time's free to walk until the
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cold day breaks.
you
Poor Old Tom
Peter Case
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