WINNER
(Shel Silverstein)

Bobby Bare - 1973

 

The hulk of a man with a beer in his hand
He looked like a drunk old fool 
And I knew if I hit him right
Why I could knock him off o' that stool
But everybody they said watch out
Hey, that's Tiger Man McCool
He's had a whole lotta fights
And he's always come out a winner
Yeah, he's a winner

But I had myself about five too many
And I walked up tall and proud
I faced his back and I faced the fact
That he had never stooped or bowed
I said Tiger Man you're a pussycat
And a hush fell on the crowd
I said let's you and me go outside and see
Who's a winner

Well he gripped the bar with one big hairy hand
Then he braced against the wall
He slowly looked up from his beer
My God, that man was tall
He said, boy I see you're a scrapper
So just before you fall
I'm gonna tell you just a little
'Bout what it means to be a winner

He said, now you see these bright white smilin' teeth
You know they ain't my own
Mine rolled away like Chicklets
Down the street in San Antone
But I left that person cursin', nursin'
Seven broken bones
And he only broke, ah, three of mine
That makes me the winner

He said now, behind this grin I got a steel pin
That holds my jaw in place
A trophy of my most successful
Motorcycle race
And each mornin' when I wake and touch
This scar across my face
It reminds me of all I got by bein' a winner

Now this broken back was the dyin' act
Of a handsome Harry Clay
That sticky Cincinnati night
I stole his wife away
But that woman she gets uglier
And she gets meaner every day
But I got her, boy
That's what makes me a winner

He said, you gotta speak loud when you challenge me son
'Cause it's hard for me to hear
With this twisted neck and these migraine pains
And this big ol' cauliflower ear
And if it wadn't for this glass eye of mine
Why I'd shed a happy tear
To think of all that you're gonna get
By bein' a winner

I got arthritic elbows, boy, I got dislocated knees
>From pickin' fights with thunderstorms and chargin' into trees
And my nose been broke so often, I might lose it if I sneeze
And, son, you say you still wanna be a winner

Now you remind me a lot of my younger days
With your knuckles a-clenchin' white
But boy, I'm gonna sit right here
And sip this beer all night
And if there's somethin' that you gotta gain or prove
By winnin' some silly fight
Well okay, I quit, I lose
You're the winner

So I stumbled from that barroom
Not so tall and not so proud
And behind me I still hear the hoots
Of laughter of the crowd
But my eyes still see and my nose still works
And my teeth're still in my mouth
And you know I guess that makes me the winner!



(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - January 2011)