[00:28.50]Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times[00:33.50]She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes[00:39.50]Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind[00:45.50]And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind[00:51.50]I realized that Illinois was more than I could stand[00:56.50]They say working's best cause poverty is hell on a man[01:02.50]Now I ride a lazy river through the Mississippi fan[01:08.50]And if the best is for the best then the best can be damned[01:25.10]I spent a few years on the Queen of Spain[01:31.50]She was a leaky little boat that went up in flames[01:37.50]When the boiler blew some people started naming names[01:42.50]But if the best is for the best I guess the best is to blame[01:50.50]I spent a few more as the Cairo Crown[01:54.50]A heavyweight wrestler in the Midwest towns[02:00.50]But I was lonesome for a girl who could pin me down[02:06.50]They say the best is for the best but that's not what I've found[02:47.20]Now I listen to my sweetheart and I listen to my thirst[02:53.50]I don't spend time listening to other people's words[02:59.50]Sometimes they're right most times the reverse[03:05.50]They say the best is for the best when the best's for the worse[03:11.50]Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times[03:16.50]She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes[03:22.50]Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind[03:28.50]And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind[03:34.50]Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times[03:40.50]Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times