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A Good Man Is Hard to Find Lyrics

I always play russian roulette in my head
Seventeen black or twenty-nine red
How far from the gutter
How far fron the pew
I'll always remember to forget about you

A good man is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
My favourite words are goodbye
And my favourite colour is red

A long dead soldier looks out
From the frame
No one remembers his war
No one remembers his name

Go out to the meadow;
Scare off all the crows
It does nothing but rain here,
And nothing will grow

A good man is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
My favourite words are goodbye
And my favourite colour is...
My favourite colour is...
My favourite colour is red
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Cover art for A Good Man Is Hard to Find lyrics by Tom Waits

A song where a man unabashedly reveals himself for what little he is worth. A man who will bed women (my favourite colour is red) and then part ways with them (my favourite words are goodbye/I'll always remember to forget about you). While he admits that by his own standards he is not a "good man," he is unfazed by this reality because he finds himself in a predominantly somber, immoral world where good men (long dead soldiers) are sent to die only to be forgotten (no one remembers his war/his name). Why covet a relationship in such a world? Instead, shoo away women after you've had your way with them (scare off all the crows) and accept that in this world of sadness (it does nothing but rain here) there is no point to building a relationship (nothing will grow).

@TRaeCH Very well put...

Cover art for A Good Man Is Hard to Find lyrics by Tom Waits

oh yeah... great cabaret style song, and he makes it sound like from that period too.

Cover art for A Good Man Is Hard to Find lyrics by Tom Waits

i love the trumpet solo

Cover art for A Good Man Is Hard to Find lyrics by Tom Waits

One of my favorite drinking songs.

Cover art for A Good Man Is Hard to Find lyrics by Tom Waits

Every time I hear a song like this, I feel like standing up and clapping.

Cover art for A Good Man Is Hard to Find lyrics by Tom Waits

Does anyone know the significance of 17 black or 29 red when it comes to roulette?

 
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