He's just a drunk   Yeah, an old salty dog      Stagger, you drink and then fall   Unaware that your life is held up against the wall   Aching, just dying inside   Still you cling on tight to your obstinate pride      I knew a man at the end of the bar   Wore a look of erosion, some old battle scars   Told many stories, none of them bright   If you bought him liberations, he spun them all night      Started out in Normandy, moved right onto France   The battle of Berlin and more veteran partance   At the end this generation, not like the last   Kids today need to learn about the past      Stagger, you drink and then fall   Unaware that your life is held up against the wall   Aching, just dying inside   Still you cling on tight to your obstinate pride      Getting too loud, barkeeper gives the hook   All the patrons laugh so hard the dive nearly shook   Into the alley he goes furious and irate   Expletives and threats babbled in hate      Finally he collapses down to the asphalt   Battered mug and lacerations, it's his fault   Bystanders tap numbers for the ambulance call   Salty dog going for an E.R. haul      Stagger, you drink and then fall   Unaware that your life is held up against the wall   Aching, just dying inside   Still you cling on tight to your obstinate pride      Salt you stagger away and then fall   Continuously stubborn and defiant through it all   Vet you'll rattle, bemoan and berate   People not backing ideals out of date      What he doesn't realize   Is he's the enemy of him   What he can't see   Is he's stuck in yesterday      Battles the EMTs, they try to help him   Inside self imposed defiance, he'd rather swim   Inside of him, a crazy death wish      Stagger, you drink and then fall   Unaware that your life is held up against the wall   Aching, just dying inside   Still you cling on tight to your obstinate pride      I knew a man at the end of the bar   With a VFW jacket and some old battle scars   Did you hear the news?   Stagger's wish came true