SIDEWALK HOBO 
(Tony Joe White) 

As footsteps echo softly to the early morning hours 
The slowness of his moves should be a warning 
But from the trash he digs 
He patchs socks and yesterdays flowers 
What a way to start a monday morning.

He might have been a carpenter at one time in his life 
And he built a lot of homes but never had one 
Or he could have been a poet 
Who [bad word] upon some hard times 
And all that he had lived was just his sad poems.

He could have been a singer with a lot of promise 
But cigarettes and [bad word] his throat 
Now it was hard to remember even a simple tune 
Or the words to songs that he had wrote.

Now take me back to Memphis 
I've got to do some thinking 
Cause I've been in this city way too long 
And it lays heavy on my mind 
When I see another man 
Having to make the sidewalks his home.