All the way back in the backsten slum
Sat a man in a wheelchair bangin' on a drum
He said "My name's Mercer and I'm a bum
I've got no change, can you spare me some?"
Sittin' in the back there year by year
Takin' all the money from the ones who wish to hear
"If I had no drum, I'd surely shed a tear
'Cause all I really wanna do is drink another beer"
In the rain and the sleet and the snow he'd play
And make about eighty-eight dollars a day
In the rain and the sleet and the snow he'd play
And make about eighty-eight dollars a day