Harry Chapin - Bummer Lyrics

His mama was a midnight woman
His daddy was a drifter drummer
One night they put it together
Nine months later came the little black bummer


He was a laid back lump in the cradle
Chewing the paint chips that fell from the ceiling
Whenever he cried he got a fist in his face
So he learned not to show his feelings


He was a pig-tail puller in grammer school
Left back twice by the seventh grade
Sniffing glue in Junior High
And the first one in school to get laid


He was a weed-speed pusher at fifteen
He was mainlining skag a year later
He'd started pimping when they put him away
In jail he changed from a junkie to a hater


And just like the man from the precinct said:
"Put him away, you better kill him instead.
A bummer like that is better of dead
Someday they're gonna have to put a bullet in his head."


They threw him back on the street, he robbed an A