never fake it

so was Al Jolson greater than Jesus

or just another pretender?

perhaps a crazy dead-ender

like a comic book character

with hair down to his knees?

oh, please

don't be insane:

if you find a way to win,

take it

never fake it

with a diamond pinned to one side of your nose

running 

when the wild wind blows.

there might be a call saying "It's for you!"

but how can it be

if you're not being true?

does Authority always win

or is that only in a Mellencamp song

where everything seems right 

but it's always wrong?

oh, no!

even Hemingway looked back in

'A Moveable Feast'

but eventually lost his way to a savage beast

hanging around,

listening for a well-timed shotgun sound

and then...

there it was!

so was Al Jolson greater than Jesus

or just another pretender?

perhaps a crazy dead-ender

like a comic book character

with hair down to his knees?

oh, please

don't be insane:

if you find a way to win,

take it

never fake it

with that gun in your hand

eyeing people across the land.

who can't see who you are:

they have no car

they have no shoes

they sing the southern blues

in the land of the free

the home of the brave

imagining life as a former slave

heroes and bums and lovers at night

eyeing almost everything in sight

and what do they see?

so was Al Jolson greater than Jesus

or just another pretender?