Stranger with the Melodies

It was a late night in that rooming house
In the last room down the hall
I heard a hoarse voice and an old guitar
comin' through the paper thin wall
A crazy nonsense nursery rhyme,
That did not mean a thing
But for the first of what was to be a thousand times
This is what I heard him sing
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
Till I've found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
Till the A chord rolls back home around to D
I had to lay there listening
It seemed he was in the room
The stranger with his melodies
Singing there in the gloom
And he repeated it over and over again
Such a soft and sinking sound
It was kind of like a music box
That was slowly winding down
You see he sang it
Hummed it
whistled it
and he strummed it
He laughed it
And he cried it
He did anything but hide it
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
Till I've found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
Till the A chord rolls back home around to D
I laid there in that lumpy bed
Counting choruses instead of sheep
till I banged on the wall and out I called
'Hey Bub, I need some sleep'
A sudden void of silence
Then I heard that hoarse voice say
It weren't so long ago, boy
They paid me to play.
I said, it's kind of late for music, Sir
Two hours til it's daylight
He answered, I need my music most
in these dark hours of the night
You see I tried gettin' high on something, son
It only brings me down
Stayin' dry don't work out better, boy
My eyes get wet and I drown
Won't you please let me continue
and I'll be in your debt
You see I'm not singing to remember, son
I'm just singin' to forget.
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
Till I've found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
Till the A chord rolls back home around to D
That's when I said
If I'm supposed to listen to you, Sir
Just one quick question then
Why in the hell do you play one song
Over and over again
And this is what he said:
He said, I gave her the music, son
She gave me the words
Together we'd write the kind of song
The angels must have heard
Of course we'd fight like cats and dogs
But life ain't no rosebud dream
Still whatever we'd do, everybody knew
We truly were a team.
I can't remember now
If I done her wrong
Or if she done wrong to me
All I know is when I let her go
Well it did not set me free
That's when I said
You sound like whatshisname
He said That's who I am
But you can't wrap a name around you, boy
Cause it really don't mean a damn
You see a song don't have no meaning
When it don't have nothing to say
What she could do was magic, son
All I could do was play.
He started singing again, that's when I drifted off
Maybe I dreamed what I heard
About the stranger with his melodies
Who'd gone and lost the words
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
Till I've found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
Till the A chord rolls back home around to D