Roy Brown

When I get to thinkin’

Then I get to drinkin’

When I get to drinkin’

Then I get to livin’

Those pictures in my album

Are all of better times

Of youth spent with pretty girls

And friends (I) can no longer find

Days there of little care

In my baby’s arms

Her scent it did cleanse me

Of all life’s little harms

When I get to thinkin’

Then I get to drinkin’

When I get to drinkin’

Then I get to livin’

A present spent in memory

Of a distant past

Of colours there in faded glass

Youth though just don’t last

She left me at the station 

When I was still a boy

She kissed my tears and vanished

(I) Boxed up all my joy

When I get to thinkin’

Then I get to drinkin’

When I get to drinkin’

Then I get to livin’

Years since been cruel to me

As I walk the world

I keep the sun on my left

Looking for that girl

The thoughts though they get to me

Of frames I captured then

A shutter closed on my heart

Left me with my sins

When I get to thinkin’

Then I get to drinkin’

When I get to drinkin’

Then I get to livin’

This bottle it has cursed me

Into always looking back

Tomorrow holds no promise

I wish only for my past

I heard she had married

To a boy in old London town

One child she did give him

A boy they named Roy Brown

When I get to thinking’

Then I get to drinkin’

When I get to drinkin’

Then I get to livin’

That boy he gets to hold her

Kiss my darling girl

Once it was me then

Me then and that girl

I wonder if she ever

Spares a thought for me

The poor boy she knew then

When we were twenty-three

When I get to thinking’

Then I get to drinkin’

When I get to drinkin’

Then I get to livin’

You can take my pride

And place it in a box

Kiss this corpse and nail the lid

For that is all I got

Nothing ever came to me

And in God I asked

I begged and wished for a chance

But for me it simply passed

When I get to thinking’

Then I get to drinkin’

When I get to drinkin’

Then I get to livin’

I tell all who’ll listen

Inside this smoky bar

If you’re lucky then to hold her

Never let her get too far

Women they will curse you

Make you lose your mind

I love them, how I love them

But it’s her I wish to find

When I get to thinking’

Then I get to drinkin’

When I get to drinkin’

Then I get to livin’

I guess then Roy Brown

Has grown to be a man

I know she’ll have raised him

To be a righteous man

In a plot in Dublin

Lie my baby’s bones

She died oh so long ago

As I lamented hope

When I get to thinking’

Then I get to drinkin’

When I get to drinkin’

Then I get to livin’

Roy Brown if you hear me

Heed these words I wrote

Nothing is so precious

As the whisperings of hope

Do not take her lightly

For she’ll not wait around

Women they are spiritual

Men we are but clowns