Came up on a worried man, asked him if he had a light
He reached on down, dug in his shoe, figured in his sock he might
He asked if he could come and join, at what we was partakin' in
I says,"Ol' soul if you got a match, you also got yourself a friend"

The smoke drew hard but laid in good, the neon gave us extra shine
We passed around a flask of Knockando, and a half litre bottle of wine
The worried man dropped down to his knees, and let out with a somber groan
He looked up to me and when I asked, he said,"I'm just restin' my bones"

I looked down at him, and him up at me, then a smile rose above his chin
He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me down, said," Listen to me now my friend"
When I was your age I did it all, more than many men could do,
Now my possessions are the ones I wear on my back, and this lighter I keep in my shoe

That's why I'm restin' my bones

I'm restin' my bones for the times I fell, fell and hit myself on the ground
Restin' my bones for the loneliness, of being the only genius around
I'm restin' my bones for prosperity, in hopes that it'll do me some good
I'm restin' bones from amphetamines, see they turned teeth to balsa wood
I'm restin' bones for Johnny Cash, 'cause for me and mine he's wearin' black
I'll be restin' my bones for Elvis, I seen him last week at the track
If I'm restin' bones and you come along, just try and tippy toe on by
'cause when I'm restin' bones I hope to sleep, and maybe slip away and die