[Verse 1]
I come fresh from the street, fast on my feet
Kinda lean and lazy
Not much meat on my bones and a whole lot alone
And more than a little bit crazy
The old six string was all I had
To keep my belly still
And for each full hour lesson I gave
I got a crisp ten dollar bill

[Verse 2]
She was married for seven years
To a concrete castle king
She said she wanted to learn to play the guitar
And to hear her children sing
So I'd show up about once a week
In my faded tight-legged jeans
With a backlog full of hobo stories
And dilapidated dreams

[Chorus]
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Full of happy things"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
I wanna hear you play"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Before you go away"
[Verse 3]
So I tried to teach her a couple of chords
And an easy melody
But it always turned out she'd rather listen
To my guitar and me
I could hear her old man laughing in the den
Playing stud poker with the boys
While I sang so soft in the living room
Too scared to make much noise

[Verse 4]
I came one week, the den was dark
And she met me at the door
And we sat on the couch and we sang and talked
'Til I could not sing no more
The silence kept on building
Her eyes grew much too wide
And I could hear both of our heartbeats
But there was no place to hide

[Chorus]
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Full of happy things"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
I wanna hear you play"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Before you go away"
[Verse 5]
Well, I guess you know what happened
God I, I never been so clean
Yes, I feel like I'm working in a Hollywood movie
Or living out a good bad dream
And all them pin-up girls in that tinsel world
Never touched me like she can
It took another man's wife in the real world life
To make this boy a man

[Chorus]
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Full of happy things"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
I wanna hear you play"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Before you go away"

[Outro]
I guess you know I stayed (Ooh)