The Winner lyrics

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 of that stool.

But, everybody, they said, “Watch out! Hey, that's the Tiger Man McCool.

He's had the whole lot a fights, and he's always come out 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, and 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 about 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 morning 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 stoled his wife away.

But, that woman she gets uglier and she gets meaner every day.

But, I got her boy and 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 old cauliflower ear.

And, if it wasn't for this glass eye of mine, why, I'd shed a happy tear to think of all that you 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 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 bar room 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 are still in my mouth.

And, you know, I guess that makes me the winner.

• Artist:Bobby Bare
• Album:Lullabys, Legends, and Lies