I was sittin'
and drinkin' in an old friend's apartment
On the west side of
Nashville one night
And in this apartment he
had these three sofas
He had two too many all right
I said, buddy, tell me about these three so fas
and start with that black one there first
He said, there's a story in each of these so fas,
but give me a minute for quenching my thirst
He said, now that first one is a good one for sweep
ing I got that one from my first wife
She left me half crazy,
took all of the babies
And drove off to
Houston one night
Well I did as I pleased and
I said what I thought
And it drove her right out of her mind
So many abuses and no damned excuses
I've often been told that I'm one of that kind
Now that second sofa,
I got that from a pal
Who was broke and was
headed back home
He was rim cut and rusty,
boozed out and dusty
And I got that thing for a song
On long winter evenings I'd
sit on that sofa
And listen to that fella sing
Well I could do without it
But there's something about it
That makes me believe I'm attached to the thing
That third one right there,
there's a story about it
I got that one from my second wife
A middle -aged lady with money to spend
I guess she was the love of my life
I like to never got that
damn thing in here
Cause it don't seem to fit any house
It's oblong and shapeless
It's ugly and tasteless
But I got it in here and I'll get it out
I thanked him for telling
the three sofa story
I yawned and I said my good night
And on my way home I
considered the sofas
And how they were
part of his life
Buddies and sweethearts,
the winners and losers
Kept con juring up in my mind
And it's all in the telling of
the three sofa story
Just one of the places where I have done time