Old man on a barstool watching TV

Got up and came over to sit closer to me

He said "You look familiar to someone I knew

But when were your age we were older than you

Jimmy was twenty and I seventeen

And to us there was nothing but girls and machines

Jimmy got married and I went to war

I still don't know what we were doing it for

But if you'll buy me a drink--turkey on ice

Then I could give you some advice



"You just stay in the bar

For as long as you can

As long as you're drinking

Then you've got the world in your hand



"There's no shame in hanging your world by a string

And you know there's no harm in not thinking a thing

But trying to find a place for yourself in this world

Is like trying to make a wife of an American girl

If you'll trade me a drink for a story or two

Then you'll know what you need to do



"You just stay in the bar

For as long as you can

You know love is for sissies

It's whiskey that makes you a man"



Now the old man got up and stumbled out in the street

He'd been drinking all day and left his bar tab with me

I didn't have the money to cover his bill

But I found me a man who looked like me, younger still

And said, "Buy me a drink and I'll tell you a tale

About the old man who taught me so well



You just stay in the bar

For as long as you can

Hell I know you're a friend

I can tell by the shakes in your hand

You just stay in the bar

For as long as you dare

As long as you're tipping

Then you've got a good friend somewhere