I come fresh from the street, fast on my feet
Kinda lean and lazy
Not much meat on my bones, and a whole lot alone
More than a little bit crazy
The old six-string was all I had
To keep my belly still
And for each full hour lesson I gave
I got a crisp ten dollar bill
You see, she was married for seven years
To a concrete castle king
She said she wanted to learn to play the guitar
And to hear her children sing
So I'd show up about once a week
In my faded tight-legged jeans
With a backlog full of hobo stories
And dilapidated dreams
She said, I want to learn a love song
Full of happy things
She said, I want to learn a love song
Won't you let me hear you sing?
She said, I, I want to learn a love song
I want to hear you play
She said, I, I want to learn a love song
Before you go away
So I tried to teach her a couple of chords
And an easy melody
But it always turned out she'd rather listen
To my guitar and me
I could hear her old man laughin' in the den
Playin' stud poker with the boys
While I sang so soft in the living room
Too scared to make much noise
I came one week, and the den was dark
And she met me at the door
And we sat on the couch, and we sang and talked
'Til I could not sing no more
You know, the silence kept on buildin'
And her eyes grew much too wide
And I could hear both of our heartbeats
But there was no place to hide
She said, I want to learn a love song
Full of happy things
She said, I want to learn a love song
Won't you let me hear you sing?
She said, I, I want to learn a love song
I want to hear you play
She said, I, I want to learn a love song
Before you go away
I guess you know what happened
God, I, I never been so clean
Yes, I feel like I'm workin' in a Hollywood movie
Or livin' out a good bad dream
And all them pin-up girls in that tinsel world
Never touched me like she can
It took another man's wife in the real world life
To make this boy a man
She said, I want to learn a love song
Full of happy things
She said, I want to learn a love song
Won't you let me hear you sing?
Said, I want to learn a love song
I want to hear you play
She said, I, I want to learn a love song
Before you go away
I guess you know I stayed