You'd have thought a king had died   The way those people cried   Instead of one more broken entertainer      It struck those in his trade   He could have had it made   If he'd only been a little saner      They traveled far to see him   Oh, the humble and the high   They said goodbye as if he were a friend      Now somewhere he is smiling   On those who idolized him   But would they even recognize him   If he came back again?      He was born of modest means   But had outrageous dreams   They never let him rest   Till he fulfilled them      While he rode that train of song   His devils tagged along   The whiskey and the pills   Just couldn't kill him      He didn't mean to be a rebel   Nor the real ones never do   They're born apart from ordinary men      And somewhere he is smiling   On those who sanctified him   But would they even recognize him   If he came back again?      And it's an old familiar story   But it's a damn shame none the less   They don't forgive his kind   Until they lay them down to rest      And somewhere he is smiling   On those who idolized him   But would they even recognize him   If he came back again?      If he came back again   Back again