The Unidentified Man

Lightning cracks the western sky; a storm is fast
approaching.
The surf churns white with rollers crashing on the
shore.
A noise above the rumble and a seaplane makes a
landing.
Every night’s a big adventure; it’s just a job and
nothing more.
He’s had a hundred thousand beers or more to
forget some girl named Alice
And a thousand sleepless nights reliving the horrors
of the war.
A scheme to make a fortune got him thrown out of
Jamaica.
Spent last night with a stranger; woke up naked on
the floor.
You might see him for a moment in the darkness
where he stands.
A figure hiding, just a shadow leaving footprints
in the sand.
A face forgotten, he disappears.
The unidentified man.
He’s had it with the girls who don’t meet you at
the station
And the partners who befriend you then take the
goods and run,
Dogs who jump their fences and those whores
who can’t be trusted.
Every tragic ending is a story just begun.
REPEAT CHORUS
LAID BACK AND KEY WASTED
Some day he’ll be the body washed ashore in
Puerto Rico
Or the man found in the wreckage of the plane
that crashed and burned.
In a bar in north Miami his buddies will toast their
fallen comrade,
Savoring their whiskey and waiting for their turn.
He’s had a hundred thousand beers or more to
forget some girl named Alice
And a thousand sleepless nights with the horrors
of the war.
Survivors of this madness live like royalty down
on South Beach.
Every night’s a big adventure; it’s just a job and
nothing more.