There's a man out there that the whole town knows
But never chose to meet
You can see him walking by with a tear in his eye
On that very lonely street
If you want, you may go and try to talk to him
If you think you're the one who can
We've given him a name, and we call him the lonely man
He just sits on the sidewalk playing violin
And he doesn't speak, so no one knows his name
His clothes are old foes of the wind and the snow
But his music keeps him warm just the same
And we often stop and we wonder how
We can offer a helping hand
Yet still we walk away from the needs of the lonely man
They say his story began
And it ended with the spotlights and a place in the band
But then they said one day
He was in the way of the younger musicians of the land
So he drank his way through to the dirt of his shoes
And we know he'll die with a bottle and bow in his hand
He has his story and so do I
And I know we should help him see
That his music can still make a bolder sigh
'Cause I know how it's gotten to me
If you go out now, you can see him sitting
Dreaming he's playing in the band
Forgetting about the town's old lonely man
They say his story began
And it ended with the spotlights and a place in the band
But then they said one day
He was in the way of the younger musicians of the land
So he drank his way through to the dirt of his shoes
And we know he'll die with a bottle and bow in his hand
There's a man out there that the whole town knows
But never chose to meet
You can see him walking by with a tear in his eye
On that very lonely street
If you go out now, you can see him sitting
Dreaming he's playing in the band
Forgetting about the town's old lonely man
We have given him a name
And we call him the lonely man