Song For Sonny Liston
So many mouthsTo feed on the farmSonny was the secondTo the last one bornHis mamma ran awayAnd his daddy beat him badAnd he grew up wildGood love he never had
He had a leftLike henry's hammerA right like betty bamalamRode with the muggersIn the dark and dreadAnd all them sluggersWent down like lead
Well he hung with the hoodsHe wouldn't stroke the fansBut he had dynamiteIn both his handsBoom bamLike the slammer doorThe bell and the canAnd the bodies on the floor
Beware the bear's in townSomebody's money saysThe bear's going downYeah, the bear never smilesSonny's going downFor miles and milesSonny's going downFor miles and miles
The writers didn't like himThe fight game jocksWith his lowlife backersAnd his hands like rocksThey didn't want to haveA bogey manThey didn't like himAnd he didn't like them
Black cadillacAlligator bootsMoney in the pocketsOf his sharkskin suitsSome say the bearTook a flopThey couldn't believe itWhen they saw him drop
He had a leftLike henry's hammerA right like betty bamalamRode with the muggersIn the dark and dreadAnd all them sluggersWent down like lead
Joe Louis was his heroHe tried to be the sameBut a criminal childWears a ball and chainSo the civil rights peopleDidn't want him on the throneAnd the hacks and the copsWouldn't leave him alone
Beware the bear's in townSomebody's money saysThe bear's going downYeah, the bear never smilesSonny's going downFor miles and milesSonny's going downFor miles and miles
At the foot of his bedWith his feet on the floorThere was dope in his veinsAnd a pistol on the drawerThere was no investigationAs suchHe hated needlesBut he knew too much
Criss-crossedOn his backScars from his daddyLike slavery tracksThe second-last childWas the second-last kingNever again was it the sameIn the ring
He had a leftLike henry's hammerA right like betty bamalamRode with the muggersIn the dark and dreadAnd all them sluggersWent down like lead
They never could be sureAbout the day he was bornA motherless childSet to working on the farmAnd they never could be sureAbout the day he diedThe bear was the kingThey cast aside
Beware the bear's in townSomebody's money saysThe bear's going downYeah, the bear never smilesSonny's going downFor miles and milesSonny's going downFor miles and miles