It hardly seems a long time just a minute of the day When the man who stood beside me more than gave himself away The food stain on his spotted shirt a gray beard on his face A man composed of many names so I just called him Ace
Ace can't read and Ace can't write and He sleeps on a bench at night A little man the world has left behind He ain't bitter he ain't sweet Makes his living on the street Never knowin' what he's gonna find
Born in Mississippi pickin' cotton as a child Left soon for the city where he heard that life was wild That was fifty years ago when nothin's really strange From a poor dirt farm to dirty streets is really not much change
Ace can't read and Ace can't write and
He sleeps on a bench at night A little man the world has left behind He ain't bitter he ain't sweet Makes his living on the street Never knowin' what he's gonna find
Go back to the country no he really can't do that Wasted years have left him nothin' but an old straw hat So he puts it on his head and waves a last good-bye With no time left to turn around and no time to ask why
Ace can't read and Ace can't write and He sleeps on a bench at night A little man the world has left behind He ain't bitter he ain't sweet Makes his living on the street Never knowin' what he's gonna find This old world has left poor Ace behind