SURE HIT SONGWRITER'S PEN
(Shel Silverstein)

Bobby Bare - 1973
Shel Silverstein - 1978


 
I was hangin' round Nashville writin' songs 
And playin' them for all of the stars
Watchin' them laugh and hand 'em back 
Livin' on hope and Hershey bars
So I pawned my guitar and bought a ticket home
And I's a headin' for the trailway bus
When I seen an old fountain pen layin' in the gutter
So I stopped and picked it up
It was worn out and bent and cast aside 
Kinda sorta like myself
So I sat down on the curb and wrote a little song
That told the world how both of us felt
Then I run that song down the Music Row
And before I had time to spit
It's pitched and sold and cut for a record
And movin' up the charts and damned, it's a hit
So I wrote me another winner 
Then I wrote me a smash again
And it's a flyin' off the ground 
'Cause I knew I found me a sure hit songrwiter pen

So the songs they just kept a pourin' out
And the money kept pourin' in
Oh, I just couldn't miss 
All it took was a twist of my sure hit songwriter's pen
Remember when I won the Grammy 
Then I won it again and again
Well none of you knew it was all due 
To my sure hit songwriter's pen
I was a darling of all of the ladies 
I was a hero among the men
Makin' big dough workin' rodeos and TV shows 
Me and my sure hit songwriter pen
But then one night in Wichita 
I was just comin' off of the stage
Folks all lined up screamin' for my autograph 
And, Lord, I was a nation rage
One little freckle faced girl was there 
She said I got no pencil sir
So I signed it with my songwriter pen 
And then handed the pen back to her

Four o'clock that morning 
I woke up with the shakes and the bends
With terror in my eyes 'cause, good God, I realized 
I'd lost my sure hit songwriter pen
I offered rewards in papers 
And I pleaded on the sympathy line
And a whole lotta folks sent a whole lotta pens
But none of them pens was mine
So my songs got worse and my money ran out 
And so did all my good time friends
And there was no doubt I was nothing 
Without my long lost sure hit songwriter pen
So I rolled like a stone down old Skid Row
Where I feed my blues on wine
And I rest my chops in a two-bit flop
And I tell my story for a drink or a dime
And I sleep with my shoes underneath my head
Dream about days back then
When I blazed my name across the sky
With my sure hit songwriter pen

Somewhere in Wichita, some little girl 
Who's freckle faced and nine or ten
Is doin' her arithmetic homework tonight
With the sure hit songwriter's pen
I'll say God bless you honey 
You got yourself a sure hit songwriter pen there
Write a song for me baby 
You got a sure hit songwriter pen
Send me some money 
You got a sure hit songwriter pen












(Contributed by Mel - July 2010)