ROUGH ON THE LIVING
(Shel Silverstein)

Bobby Bare - 1980
Shel Silverstein - 1980





His picture was in all the papers
They said that a legend had passed
The late evenin' news did a special report
And swore that his mem'ry would last

They're playin' his records all weekend
Praisin' the life that he lived
Nashville is rough on the livin'
But she really speaks well of the dead

The wife that they interviewed cried
Is the same one who left him last fall
And the record producer who called him a hero
Is the one who wouldn't answer his calls

The ladies they sit over coffee
Braggin' 'bout sharin' his bed
They didn't want him 'round when he's livin'
But he's sure a good friend when he's dead

They observed twenty seconds of silence
At the Opry on Saturday night
And they're searchin' the bars and the basements
For some souvenir of his life

They're plannin' a book for September
Showin' his plain country roots
Any they're sellin' the rights to the movie
And the Hall of Fame's gettin' his boots

At the funeral somebody recited a poem
That told how he suffered and bled
Nashville is rough on the livin'
But she really speaks well of the dead

Yeah, Nashville is rough on the livin'
But she really speaks well of the dead






(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - May 2012)