Song For Sonny Liston

So many mouths to feed on the farm Sonny was the second to the last one born His mama ran away and his daddy beat him bad And he grew up wild good love he never had He had a left like Henry's hammer A right like Betty Bamalam Rode with the muggers in the dark and dread And all them sluggers went down like lead Well he hung with the hoods he wouldn't stroke the fans But he had dynamite in both his hands Boom bam like the slammer door The bell and the can and the bodies on the floor Beware the bear's in town Somebody's money says the bear's going down Yeah, the bear never smiles Sonny's going down for miles and miles Sonny's going down for miles and miles The writers didn't like him the fight game jocks With his lowlife backers and his hands like rocks They didn't want to have a bogey man They didn't like him and he didn't like them Black Cadillac alligator boots Money in the pockets of his sharkskin suits Some say the bear took a flop They couldn't believe it when they saw him drop He had a left like Henry's hammer A right like Betty Bamalam Rode with the muggers in the dark and dread And all them sluggers went down like lead Joe Louis was his hero he tried to be the same But a criminal child wears a ball and chain So the civil rights people didn't want him on the throne And the hacks and the cops wouldn't leave him alone Beware the bear's in town somebody's money says The bear's going down Yeah, the bear never smiles Sonny's going down for miles and miles Sonny's going down for miles and miles At the foot of his bed with his feet on the floor There was dope in his veins and a pistol on the drawer There was no investigation as such He hated needles but he knew too much Cris-crossed on his back Scars from his daddy like slavery tracks The second-last child was the second-last king Never again was it the same in the ring He had a left like Henry's hammer A right like Betty Bamalam Rode with the muggers in the dark and dread And all them sluggers went down like lead They never could be sure about the day he was born A motherless child set to working on the farm And they never could be sure about the day he died The bear was the king they cast aside Beware the bear's in town Somebody's money says the bear's going down Yeah, the bear never smiles Sonny's going down for miles and miles Sonny's going down for miles and miles Some day they're gonna write a Blues for fighters. It'll just be for Slow guitar, soft trumpet and a bell Sonny Liston 1962