A Love Song for Bobby Long (Revised)

In Brewton, Alabama at the Colonial Inn
Hot day, old orange juice and vodka on the nightstand
There's a Chevy Nova with the seat burned out the back
From a Winston cigarette that was thumped into the wind
Old Bobby Long was like Zorba the Greek
Side-tracked by the scent of a woman
Could've been an actor on the movie screen
Stayed in Alabama, just a dreamer of dreams
He played football against W. S. Neal
Should've seen him running down the field
I grow old where the bottoms of my trousers roam
It's a love song for Bobby Long

He was a handsome man
He had Cherokee cheekbones
A fair-haired boy
But where did he go wrong?
Chose the road less traveled, made all the difference
Now he's chastised, criticized, he don't make no sense
Brewton called him crazy
Said Bobby Long was nothing but a drunk
But all the thoughts in his head was way past anything they done thunk
A love song for Bobby Long

Now don't get me wrong
Bobby Long wasn't no good
He'd drag you down if he thought he could
Well he would, drag you down
'The road I ride will be the death of me
Won't you come along?
The road I ride is gonna set me free
It's gonna take me home'

He was a friend of my Papa's
He used to drink and tell lies
Praise Flannery O'Conner, smoke cigarettes and philosophize
So here I am at the Colonial Inn
Me and Captain Long and my pretty girlfriend
Well he charms her with a poem
Then he breaks down and cries
Smiled a crooked smile with his broken cheekbone sighs
Tells about his life
Now he's sixty-three
Looks me in the eyes
Says 'Come and go with me'
He could walk on water, but you know he'd drown himself in wine
God and the Devil all inside his mind
It's a love song for Bobby Long