So as you walk down the street, who will talk to you
Six o'clock, it's getting late
And the moon is rising, and the sticky dew
Falls to the ground by the gate

With your rifle on your shoulder as you walk along
Listening to your bootheels hit the sod
Smoking your cigar as you hum a song
Thinking of your mother and your God

Ah, but you're alone, Jimmy Clay
As you smoke your cigar and earn your pay
With fifteen thousand soldiers marching by your side

Still, you're alone, Jimmy Clay
Do you remember New York Town, good old New York Town
The friends, the drunks, the cops and all
The whores who took your money when you couldn't stand
All those roarin' nights you can't recall
Do you remember Alice Faye, good old Alice Faye
She'd been through life at least ten times around
And when she said she loved you, well, she meant it, boy
Do you remember the night you nearly drowned
Ah, but you're alone, Jimmy Clay
As you smoke your cigar and think of yesterday
But Yesterday don't matter when it's gone away
Where did it go, Jimmy Clay
So as you lie there in the mud who will talk to you
Nobody, Jimmy Clay
For when you've gone, mankind soon follows after you
Doesn't it, Jimmy Clay
And your face will grow mouldy where they kissed your cheek
And said, Please die for us, Jimmy Clay
And so you died, a soldier, and a hero's death
Congratulations, Jimmy Clay
Now you're alone, Jimmy Clay
As you smoke your cigar and earn your pay
And somewhere in the distance hear a fiddle play
But not one note will change, Jimmy Clay