There was a man I used to pass On my way into town He was covered in dirt like the world had beat him down I often wondered how he ended up like that So one day driving home I pulled over to ask I said, "Man, where'd it all go wrong?" He said, "Son, do you really wanna know?" "My daddy left for another woman Moved off to L.A. My mama fought hard against that cancer She died when I was eight I finished school, my country shipped me off to war When I came home, my whole world didn't love me anymore" "It's hard to see all that when you're driving by So I just write down, "Jesus saves" 'Cause there ain't no way I could fit that on a sign I can't fit that on a sign" I took him to a diner I bought him a cup of coffee He asked me If he could bum a couple dollars off me He told me his story, I told mine He said thanks 'cause most folks around here Would never take the time He said "I lost my job down at the mill When that factory closed Army stopped sending me them checks The bank took everything I own Hitchhiked my way up to Chicago The nights were too damn cold I hopped a train headed west 'Cause I had nowhere else to go" "It's hard to see all that driving by So I just write down, "Jesus saves" 'Cause there ain't no way I could fit that on a sign There ain't no way to fit that on a sign" "I probably would've wrote down a little more If I could've found a bigger piece of cardboard" "My brother Walter was my hero But he was bad to drink One night, he laid his Harley down Near that Ohio riverbank Me and my ex-wife tried for kids when we were dating Hell, we even had baby names picked out But little Walter didn't make it "It's hard to see all that driving by So I just write down, "Jesus saves" 'Cause there ain't no way I could fit that on a sign I can't fit all that on a sign"