Dream Street

In the Clearing Stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade,
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down,
Or cut him til he cried out in his anger and his shame,
I am leaving, I am leaving.
But the fighter still remains.

"The Boxer," Paul Simon

Fargo, North Dakota, Civic Center
April 2007

I saw the champ running down by the river
With his trainer and his stretch limousine
I don't recall the year but it was late in his career
When he was featured in those glove magazines

They never leave the ring until it's too late
They never seem to quit in their prime
I guess you take it as a given that a champion is driven
So he can always win one more time

Chorus:

So there's a new reservation on Dream Street
With a room with no view of before
It takes years for some to check-in, but Dream Street will beckon
Till they're mumbling their names at the door

Some do it out of pride, some do it for the dough
Some do 'cause it's the only thing they're ever gonna know
Promoters take the money, the fighters take the pain
They find a new sucker and they do it again, whoa.... whoa...

From the time before he won the title
Till the referee stopped his last fight
Oh, I swear there was greatness there
Till those younger guys put out the light

Now he's in his ever after
With money to last all of his days
Oh but the price makes you shiver, fate's an indian-giver
She giveth and she taketh away

"Dream Street," John Gorka
Land of the Bottom Line, 1990