i slept last night in a good hotel

i went shopping today for jewels

the wind rushed around in a dirty town

and the children let out from the school wells

i was standing on a noisy corner

waiting for the walking green

across the street he stood and he played real good

on his clarinet for free

now me i play for fortune

and those velvet curtain calls

i got a black limousine

and two gentlemen escorting me to the house

and i play if you have the money

or if you're a friend to me

but the one man band by the quick lunch stand

he was playing real good for free

no nobody stopped to hear him

though he played so sweet to hide

they knew he had never been on the tv

so they passed his music by

i meant to go over and ask for a song

maybe put on some kind of harmony

i heard his refrain as the signal changed

he was playing real good for free