John Doe No 24

[Intro]            [Verse] I was standing on the sidewalk in 1945 In Jacksonville Illinois When asked what my name was there came no reply They said I was a deaf and sightless half wit boy But Louis was my name though I could not say it I was born and raised in New Orleans My spirit was wild so I let the river take it On a barge and a prayer upstream Well they searched for a mother And they searched for a father And they searched till they searched no more The doctors put to rest their scientific tests And they named me ’John Doe No. 24’ And they all shook their heads in pitty For a world so silent and dark Well there’s no doubt that life’s a mystery But so too is the human heart And it was my heart’s own perfume When the crepe jasmine bloomed on saint Morgue Avenue Though I couldn’t hear the bells Of the streetcars coming by toeing the track I knew And if I were an old man returning With my satchel and porkpie hat I’d hit every jazz joint on Bourbon And I’d hit everyone on Basin after that [Instrumental]                                       [Verse 2] The years kept passing as they passed me around From one state ward to another Like I was an orphan shoe from the lost and found Always missing the other And they gave me a harp last Christmas And all the nurses took a dance But lately I’ve been growing listless I’ve been dreaming again of the past I’m wandering down to the banks Of the great Big Muddy where the shotgun houses stand I am seven years old and I feel my dad Reach out for my hand While I drew breath no one missed me So they won’t on the day that I cease Put a sprig of crepe jasmine with me To remind me of New Orleans [Outro] I was standing on the sidewalk in 1945 In Jacksonville Illinois [Ending instrumental]