(Verse)
My mama disappeared and left me all alone
At ten years old I ran away from home
And I met up with a carnival man
I’ve seen money in his eyes as he shook my hand
He said why don’t you get in that big black car?
And a big high blouse and that evil star
And then next I burned to him sharp things
For a boy your age you’re the damnedest thing
He said you got a certain quality
You’re a visual atrocity
So how’d you like to work for me as my little human oddity?
(Verse)
I was raised in a side show, working as a gatekeeper
For 3 huts and a cut, 10 bucks a week
I primped heads off the chickens in the usual thing
Then I played my guitar and I started to sing
So the carnival man put my song in the act
Every night on the midway my tent was packed
He said you got a strange quality
You’re a kind of western atrocity
But you saved my show from bankruptcy
You’re my little human oddity
(Verse)
I was then discovered by a record man
To record my songs he paid me quite a grand
I had a new Cadillac, all the liquor I can drink
All the women I could love, I had money in the bank
And the carnival man was brutally slain
Some jealous punks have gave the sheriff my name
I was convicted of the murder of the carnival man
I get 30 damn years in the federal can
For over a quarter century I wrote my kind of western dynasty
Now I’m out I’m basically making up the years they stole from me
So you just have to be with me
I’m your kind of western human oddity