You'd have thought a king had died
The way those people cried
Instead of one more broken entertainer
It struck those in his trade
He could have had it made
If he'd only been a little saner
They traveled far to see him
Oh, the humble and the high
They said goodbye as if he were a friend

Now somewhere he is smiling
On those who idolized him
But would they even recognize him
If he came back again?

He was born of modest means
But had outrageous dreams
They never let him rest
Till he fulfilled them
While he rode that train of song
His devils tagged along
The whiskey and the pills
Just couldn't kill him
He didn't mean to be a rebel
Ah, the real ones never do
They're born apart from ordinary men

Now somewhere he is smiling
On those who sanctified him
But would they even recognize him
If he came back again?

It's an old familiar story
But it's a damn shame none-the-less
They don't forgive his kind
Till they lay them down to rest

Now somewhere he is smiling
On those who idolized him
But would they even recognize him
If he came back again?
Oh, if he came back again