001 The Bum Poem by George Hunter

Fiddle Dee, Dee, Fiddle Dee Dum
Guess I turned out to be a bum.
I wanted to see all the forty eight
But the price of a ticket was just too great.
So I hung around the railroad yards
Rollin' drunks and dealin' cards.
Pullin' all kinds of clever tricks
Hidin' from the railroad dicks.
Hoppin' freights, goin' anywhere
Not knowin' where till I got there.
Through sunny weather and stormy gales
Ridin' rails and chasin' tails.

I was doin' O K and one fine day
I met a gal who'd run away.
We traveled round, hit many a city
Some things we done were not too pretty.
But we had ourselves a lot of fun
Thrilled with bein' on the run.
But she tired of me, said she had to go
And we drifted apart near Chicago.

I was now alone and down on my luck
Busted flat and needing a buck.
So I joined a circus one sad day
I was short of booze and needed some pay.
I pounded stakes and put up tents
Anything at all to make ten cents.
Watered the elephants, fed the cats
Did all the dirty jobs that place begat.
Found a place to sleep under a truck
Could hardly believe in my good luck.

That was years ago, now all's in the past
I knew that my good times could not last.
Standing in a breadline, waitin' for a meal
The story of my life, no big deal.
I'm gettin' old, so they say
And pretty soon I'll pass away.
They'll put this old guy in the ground
If a 7 x 4 spot can be found.
With nary a soul to weep for me
On my lonesome journey to eternity