There’s a place that I know
Not too far from Boston
Just a bar where the locals
Take it slow
Friday night, coming home
I often like to stop in
Have a beer, tell a tale
Then I go
But there’s a guy, long in tooth
Not too gruff, not too couth
But he always says hello
When I show
Drinks vermouth, wears a cap
Not too bad a looking chap
I only know him as
The Man from I-Don’t-Know
He says, “Son, let me tell you
I got a fine wife and a daughter
Haven’t seen them, but they
Tell me they’re fine”
“Growing old, if you don’t weaken
Will either toughen or meaken
But either way it seems they
Leave you behind”
He turns to me, with a wink
He finishes his drink, and says
“Son, we’ll talk again some time”
The man from I-Don’t-Know
He spends his life in inebrio
Always happy, but I know
Down inside
His heart is torn, his will is broken
He wants to hear words never spoken
Like “I love you”
From his girl and bride
The years go by, I still see him
I’d often like to be him
Must be nice to be loose
And fancy-free
The Man From I-Don't-Know
© 1997 Bob Lee
Then one day, in the park,
Under shade in the dark,
I see him look
Sadly betrayed
My wife says to me
“That old drunk isn’t free -
He’s a prisoner of his
Terminal ways”
From the tear on her face
I begin to place
The likeness of a man
In her eyes
She walks away
Not a word will she say
When I ask
She simply denies
The identity
The friend I often see
Where I go
The Man from I-Don’t-Know
It’s been long, I haven’t heard
Haven’t seen the old bird
Must have moved on,
But still I’d like to learn
Is it true, is he ours
Is this man from the bar
The father of the bride
Taciturn
The town lush with the cap
Could it be that this chap
Is the man that chose not to return
Then he died, no one cried
‘Cept for me, cause you see
I knew from the facts
That I have seen
This old man from I-Don’t-Know
He died lonely, he died slow
While each night
I held his only dream