Standard (EADGBE)

Verse 1

I don't have matching socks

I don't have a door that locks

I live in cardboard box

Sell a pint of blood for fifteen bucks

That's how a bum like me can get a drink

When the monsoon season came I escaped the rain

I hitched a ride on a railroad train

Well I went into that Illinois blood bank

Doctor said, “Son you've got bad veins”

Now, how's a bum like me gonna get a drink?

It's like a brain surgeon who's gone insane

A one eyed assassin with bad aim

How in the hell is a bum like me supposed to get a drink

When the doctor says, “Son you've got bad veins”

Chorus

You've got bad veins (You've got bad veins)

Verse 2

Well I know my old veins may not be the best

You can slit my wrist over a bucket leave me the excess

I don't care if you stick a sump pump right through my chest

Give me the money I'll clean up the mess

And then a bum like me can get a drink

It's like a porn queen dying of AIDS

A Romeo telling Juliet he's gay

How in the hell is a bum like me supposed to get a drink

When the doctor says, “Son you've got bad veins”

Verse 3

Now I'm broke and sober and I feel the pain

Of all the blood returning to my brain

My blood alcohol content is normal again

Good blood flowing through bad veins

But how's a bum like me gonna get a drink

It's like all of Jesus' disciples cursing his name

All except for Judas who holds his head in shame

How in the hell is a bum like me supposed to get a drink

When the doctor says, “Son you've got bad veins”