Randy Newman

Naked Man

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Naked Man Lyrics

	


Old lady lost in the city
In the middle of a cold, cold night
It was fourteen below and the wind start to blow
There wasn't a boy scout in sight
Pull down the shades cause he's comin'
Turn out the lights cause he's here
Runnin' hard down the street
Through the snow and the sleet
On the coldest night of the year

CHORUS
Beware, beware, beware of the Naked Man

Old lady head up toward Broad Street
Shufflin' uptown against the wind
She had started to cry-wiped a tear from her eye
And looked back to see where she had been

Old lady stand on the corner
With a purse in her hand
She does not know but in a minute or so
She will be robbed by a naked man

CHORUS

Old lady lean against a lamppost
Starin' down at the ground on which she stand
She look up and scream
For the lamplight's beam
There stood the famous Naked Man

He say, "They found out about my sister
And kicked me out of the Navy,
They would have strung me up if they could.
I tried to explain that we were both of us lazy
And were doing the best we could."

He faked to the left and he faked to the right
And he snatched the purse fromere hand
"Someone stop me," he cried,
As he faded from sight,
"Won't nobody help a naked man?"
"Won't nobody help a naked man?"

CHORUS

	

Submitted by

yuri_sucupira On Nov 27, 2001

Short People

I Think It's Going To Rain Today

Louisiana 1927

Rednecks

Bad News from Home

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4 Meanings

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by vasnmoGo

18y ago

2 of society's victims on coldest night of year - pure compassion and great backing, as ever

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by montresor

15y ago

My view is the naked man represents a person out of options in life who now has no choices left. He has nothing left to lose, not even is dignity or humanity.

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by montresor

15y ago

My view is the naked man represents a person out of options in life who now has no choices left. He has nothing left to lose, not even is dignity or humanity.

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by SnoopEast

11y ago

This song is based on a true story. Randy Newman's good friend, a public defender, was representing a man who was arrested for stealing a purse from a woman while naked. His defense made the already strange story even stranger: apparently, he was in the middle of committing adultery when the woman's husband came home, forcing him to jump out of the window naked as the day God made him. Then suddenly, ANOTHER naked man came running by and handed him a purse, leaving him to explain the story to the police.

The strange and amusing lyrics with absurd and slightly dark implications ("they found out about my sister/kicked me out of the navy/would've strung me up if they could") reflect the nature and emotion of the story. You've got unreliable narrators, strange events and uncomfortable nudity all mixed together.

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