Lyrics

John Doe

Hello, hello, they call me John Doe
It’s written on this tag tied to my toe
They found me ‘neath a bridge under a blanket of snow
Hello, Hello, they call me John Doe

No one came ‘round to claim these old bones
If someone had, these folks woulda known
My mama she named me after grandpa Joe
But everyone here just calls me John Doe

My dear old daddy, he called me son
I loved a good woman, she called me hon
They called me a soldier, then they called me a bum
but there was a time I was someone

Back from the war, my head wasn’t right
Took little white pills to make it through the night
First went the car, then the house and the wife
A tent on the street, the shopping cart life

Somebody tell me how your story lives on
When your name don’t live on anyone’s tongue
What’s in a name when all is said and done?
Nothing at all till you don’t have one

They’ll hire a preacher, pray I am saved
No one to lay roses over my grave
Don’t care what you call me when I’m in the ground
They’ll know my name where I’m headed now

© P. Rosenberg