Fred Kewley - A Better Place to Be lyrics

It was an early morning bar room And the place just opened up And the little man come in so fast and Started at his cup And the broad who served the whisky She was a big old friendly girl And she tried to fight her empty nights By smilin' at the world And she said "Hey Bub, it's been awhile Since you been around Where the hell you been hidin'? And why you look so down?" But the little man just sat there like he'd never heard a sound The waitress she gave out with a cough And acting not the least put off She spoke once again She said, "I don't want to bother you Consider it's understood I know I'm not no beauty queen But I sure can listen good." And the little man took his drink in his hand And he raised it to his lips He took a couple of sips And he told the waitress this story "I am the midnight watchman down at Miller's Tool and Die And I watch the metal rusting, and I watch the time go by A week ago at the diner I stopped to get a bite And this here lovely lady she sat two seats from my right And Lord, Lord, Lord she was alright "Well, she was so damned beautiful she could warm a winter's frost But she was long past lonely, and well nigh kinda lost Now I'm not much of a mover, or a pick-em-up easy guy But I decided to glide on over, and give her one good try And Lord, Lord, Lord she was worth a try "I was tongued-tied like a school boy, and I stammered out some words But it did not seem to matter much, cause I don't think she heard She just looked clear on through me to a space back in my head And it shamed me into silence, as quietly she said 'If you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me Cause I know I'm going nowhere, and anywhere's a better place to be Anywhere's a better place to be.' "I drove her to my boarding house, and I took her up to my room And I went to turn on the only light to brighten up the gloom But she said, 'Please leave the light off, Oh I don't mind the dark.' And as her clothes all tumbled 'round her, I could hear my heart The moonlight SHONE upon her as she lay back in my bed It was the kind of scene I only had imagined in my head I just could not believe it, to think that she was real And as I tried to tell her she said 'Shhh.. I know just how you feel And if you want to come here with me, then that's all right with me Cause I've been oh so lonely, lovin' someone is a better way to be Anywhere's a better way to be.' "The morning came so swiftly as I held her in my arms But she slept like a baby, snug and safe from harm I did not want to share her or dare to break the mood So before she woke I went out to buy us both some food "I came back with my paper bag, to find that she was gone She'd left a six word letter saying 'It's time that I moved on.'" The waitress took her bar rag, and she wiped it across her eyes And as she spoke her voice came out as something like a sigh She said "I wish that I was beautiful, or that you were halfway blind And I wish I weren't so god-damned fat, I wish that you were mine And I wish that you'd come with me, when I leave for home For we both know all about loneliness, and livin' all alone." And the little man Looked at the empty gla** in his hand And he smiled a crooked grin He said, " I guess I'm out of gin And know we both have been so lonely And if you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me Cause I know I'm goin' nowhere and anywhere's a better place to be."