Well, I'm a jitterbug boy, by the shoe-shine

Resting on my laurels and my hardys too

Life of Riley on a swing shift, gears follow my drift

Once upon a time I was in show-biz too

I seen the Brooklyn Dodgers playing at Ebbets Field

Seen the Kentucky Derby too

It's fast women, slow horses, unreliable sources,

And I'm holding up the lamp-post if you want to know

I've seen the Wabash Cannonball, buddy, I've done it all

'Cause I slept with the lions and Marilyn Monroe,

Had breakfast in the eye of a hurricane

Fought Rocky Marciano, played Minnesota Fats,

Burned hundred-dollar bills, I've eaten Mulligan stew

Got drunk with Louis Armstrong, what's that old song?

I taught Mickey Mantle everything that he knows

So you ask me what I'm doing here holding up the lamp-post,

Flipping this quarter, trying to make up my mind

And if it's heads I go to Tennessee, and tails I buy a drink,

If it lands on the edge I keep talking to you

(scat)