Rose was a waitress for twenty years or more

bringing in the change, she was heaven sent

she taught me how to balance trays when I didn't know what to do

and I learned to turn tables to make my rent

She said keep your eye on the work clock, keep a dollar in the jukebox

and there's a bottle of whiskey behind the coffee machine

Don't talk to the boss, he's just trouble you don't want to cross

he's the walking definition of what it is to be mean


Well, I'm going out tonight on the streets of the city

Going to spend my money tonight

I'm going out on the streets of the city

Rose, you're pushing fifty, but you sure look all right


Well there's this guy who speaks no English, and he does the dishes by hand

You know his pace it never slacks

I said "Rose, he must be one of God's good children"

She just laughs and says "Yeah, God's got him doing the dishes all night in the back"

But he keeps smiling and those plates keep piling up so high

seems he can't make a dent

Me I'm just bitchin' by the service station

so tired of waiting on all these jokers for a lousy ten percent


Well I'm going out on the streets of the city

Going to spend my money tonight

I'm going out on the streets of the city

Rose, you're pushing fifty, but you sure look all right


Now listen

I traveled once with this rock and roll band

and my baby was a hero at every small town bar

and I watched that summer of '88 pass through the rearview mirror of his rented car

but don't you learn hard and fast that the good times, they ain't meant to last

and that sweet love, ain't it the first to disappear

Rose, sometimes I get so frightened, I don't want to spend the rest of my life

working on the graveyard shift here


Well I'm going out on the streets of the city

Going to spend my money tonight

I'm going out on the streets of the city

Rose, you're pushing fifty, but you sure look all right