The Crock of Gold lyrics

[Intro]
We'll live out our lives on this dirty old street
Only because we just can't compete
But in the concrete of our younger days, we left our names
Just like the people before
When they reached the distant shore
With their drinks and their dance and their dreams
And sincere aims
All ghosts long gone, through old buildings they stare
With their offspring staring at me, for they are still there
Dreams that are dead and lives not realized
Why did we write our names in these streets, to show we're alive?

[Verse 1]
Well, Chicago is my home and I'll never want to roam
To live on any sun swept distant shore
Well, it is where I was reared by forbearers so revered
And I sing the songs that they all sang before

[Verse 2]
Any woman that's neared me has been repelled most thoroughly
Still I'm a lover God, I am foremost of all
A musician that's my call of high degree professional
But I'm afraid I do not know my trade at all

[Chorus]
And if it's every twenty years, some small relief to me appears
Then the crock of gold will wait until that day
To defend myself no more, lay the shield of anger at my door
And the sword of alcohol will stow away

[Verse 3]
All the people in our town are overworked and broken down
Begging cheques but it's just not enough they're giving
Crying quietly, living life so desperately
That something has to make this life worth living

[Verse 4]
Real life is only a timeline and the excitement holds the short times
It will never measure up to what TV sells as great
All the drunken jokes and views, exciting pubs they tell the news
But the exciting parts, well, they just weren't all that great

[Chorus]
And if it's every twenty years, some small relief to me appears
Then the crock of gold will wait until that day
To defend myself no more, lay the shield of anger at my door
And the sword of alcohol will stow away
[Verse 5]
I met a girl one night and enchantment fixed our sight
So we decided we would hold it for a while
But she would not love me, so inside me finally said
It's not your fault, but I would like love if only for a while

[Verse 6]
Well, it's on and on I've seen, yeah that's how it's always been
And how it will be as ever on I go
Oh, but ever on I will, through all the banal times until
I find some place to me that seems like home

[Chorus]
And if it's every twenty years, some small relief to me appears
Then the crock of gold will wait until that day
To defend myself no more, lay the shield of anger at my door
And the sword of alcohol will stow away