G A h
So as you walk down the street, who will talk to you
G A h
Six o'clock, it's getting late
G A h
And the moon is rising, and the sticky dew
D A h
Falls to the ground by the gate


With your rifle on your shoulder as you walk along
Listening to your bootheels hit the sod
Smoking your cigar as you hum a song
Thinking of your mother and your God

D A h
Ah, but you're alone, Jimmy Clay
D A h
As you smoke your cigar and earn your pay
G A h
With fifteen thousand soldiers marching by your side
D A h
Still, you're alone, Jimmy Clay

Do you remember New York Town, good old New York Town
The friends, the drunks, the cops and all
The whores who took your money when you couldn't stand
All those roarin' nights you can't recall

Do you remember Alice Faye, good old Alice Faye
She'd been through life at least ten times around
And when she said she loved you, well, she meant it, boy
Do you remember the night you nearly drowned

Ah, but you're alone, Jimmy Clay
As you smoke your cigar and think of yesterday
But Yesterday don't matter when it's gone away
Where did it go, Jimmy Clay

So as you lie there in the mud who will talk to you
Nobody, Jimmy Clay
For when you've gone, mankind soon follows after you
Doesn't it, Jimmy Clay

And your face will grow mouldy where they kissed your cheek
And said, Please die for us, Jimmy Clay
And so you died, a soldier, and a hero's death
Congratulations, Jimmy Clay

Now you're alone, Jimmy Clay
As you smoke your cigar and earn your pay
And somewhere in the distance hear a fiddle play
But not one note will change, Jimmy Clay
-a