copycats:

eceu:

Best for the Best - Juliana Richer
originally by Josh Ritter

Once I knew a girl in the hard, hard times.
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes.
Now she’s gone, but when I wear it she crosses my mind,
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind.

I realized that Illinois was more than I could stand.
They say working’s best cause poverty is hell on a man.
Now I ride a lazy river through the Mississippi fan,
And if the best is for the best then the best can be damned.

I spent a few years on the Queen of Spain.
She was a leaky little boat that went up in flames.
When the boiler blew some people started naming names,
But if the best is for the best I guess the best is to blame.

I spent a few more as the “Cairo Crown”,
A heavyweight wrestler in the Midwest towns.
But, I was lonesome for a girl who could pin me down.
They say the best is for the best but that’s not what I’ve found.

Now I listen to my sweetheart and I listen to my thirst.
I don’t spend time listening to other people’s words;
Sometimes they’re right most times the reverse.
They say the best is for the best when the best’s for the worse.

Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes
Now she’s gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind