The Fool Dressed in Velvet

There's a fool dressed in velvet

And he's walking down the street

He's got ribbons in his hair

And a tattoo across his feet

And the people sigh as the fool goes by

There goes a fool dressed in velvet

He can't amount to much

He's a helpless grown-up man

That fortune never touched

And they laugh at him

He returns the grin

Because it's easy to ridicule a fool

You take your chances one way or the other

What's it worth to you to be a brother?

Oh, the fool dressed in velvet

Has friends like you and me

And they take him where they're goin'

And he sees the things they see

And the poor man tries to amuse their eyes

And there's laughter, joy, and wonder

And at night at home alone

There's a tangled recollection

Of the things his friends have done

Sure they take him in

But they make sport of him

Because it's easy to ridicule a fool

You take your chances one way or the other

What's it worth to you to be a brother?

Oh, the fool dressed in velvet

Can't keep much in his head

And it's hard for him to remember

What the man he just passed said

But somewhere behind

Shredded memories in his mind

He sees a fool dressed in denim

Struggling with a broom

In the cellar of a church

That someone told him was his tomb

There's no tattoo there

And no ribbons for his hair

And there's no one to ridicule a fool

You take your chances one way or the other

What's it worth to you to be a brother?

Oh, the fool dressed in velvet

Is walking down the street

He's got ribbons in his hair

And a tattoo across his feet

And the people sigh as the fool goes by

There goes a fool dressed in velvet

He's walking down the street

He's got ribbons in his hair