Best For The Best - Josh Ritter

Once I knew a girl in the hard, hard times

She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes

Now she’s gone, but when I wear it she crosses my mind

And if the best is for the best, then the best is unkind

I realized that Illinois was more than I could stand

They say working’s best 'cause poverty is hell on a man

Now I ride a lazy river through the Mississippi fan

And if the best is for the best, then the best can be damned

I spent a few years on the Queen of Spain

She was a leaky little boat that went up in flames

When the boiler blew, some people started naming names

But if the best is for the best, I guess the best is to blame

I spent a few more as the Cairo Crown

A heavyweight wrestler in the Midwest towns

But I was lonesome for a girl who could pin me down

They say the best is for the best, but that’s not what I’ve found

Now I listen to my sweetheart and I listen to my thirst

I don’t spend time listening to other people’s words

Sometimes they’re right, most times the reverse

They say the best is for the best when the best’s for the worse

Once I knew a girl in the hard, hard times

Once I knew a girl in the hard, hard times