Oscar the Angel

Oscar was an angel and he used to walk the streets

Shoutin' out some prophesies at everyone he'd meet

He was a local fixture; like a cop out on a beat

Folks said he'd been shell-shocked long ago

And more than that for no one seemed to know

Oscar was a walker; at least four miles twice a day

The entire lenght of Main Street he'd be shoutin' all the way

And I had no idea where he heard the things he'd say

But he was not your normal voice of doom;

It was a happy song, sung slightly out of tune

And he'd say, "Everyone will die and go to heaven

And we will all be angels someday

And what you are in this world don't count for nothin'

'Cause we are only children, we're just lost along the way,

But we will all be angels someday"

Well, I worked at the Rialto; I sold tickets at the door

And Oscar, he'd come by most everyday by half past four

And he'd pay to see some movie

That he'd seen ten times before

But mostly we'd just let him in for free

Then he'd watch five minutes,

Then he'd come and talk to me

And he'd say, "Everyone will die and go to heaven

And we will all be angels someday

And what you are in this world don't count for nothin'

'Cause we are only children, we're just lost along the way,

But we will all be angels someday"

Well, it's going on ten years now

Since I left my hometown

And I went back last summer

For a week I hung around

I looked out for Oscar, he was no where to be found

And someone said they finally had to commit him

And he died before they had time to forget him

Now, I'm not about to argue,

Oscar's train had jumped the track

But I'll bet my last dollar on the plain and simple fact

Oscar never said a word about me behind my back

And the way that I was raised to understand

Well, that alone, it makes him the better man

And he'd say, "Everyone will die and go to heaven

And we will all be angels someday

And what you are in this world don't count for nothin'

'Cause we are only children, we're just lost along the way,

But we will all be angels someday"

Yeah, we will all be angels someday...