Oh the neon lights were flashing and the icy wind did blow

The water seeped into his shoes and the drizzle turned to snow

His eyes were red his hopes were dead and the wine was running low

And the old man came home from the forest

His tears fell on the sidewalk as he stumbled to the street

A dozen faces stopped to stare but no one stopped to speak

For his castle was a hallway and the bottle was his friend

And the old man stumbled in from the forest

[ ac.guitar ]

Up a dark and dingy staircase the old man made his way

His ragged coat around him as upon his cot he lay

And he wondered how it happened that he'd ended up this way

Getting lost like a fool in the forest

And as he lay there sleeping a vision did appear

Upon his mantle shining the face of one so dear

Who'd loved him in the springtime of a long forgotten year

When the wildflowers did bloom in the forest

[ harmonica ]

She touched his grizzled fingers as she called him by his name

And then he heard the joyful sound of children at their games

In an old house on a hillside in some forgotten town

Where the river runs down from the forest

With a mighty roar the big jet soars above the canyon streets

And the con men con but life goes on for the city never sleeps

But to an old forgotten soldier the dawn will come no more

For the old man has come home from the forest