[00:28.50]Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times [00:33.50]She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes [00:39.50]Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind [00:45.50]And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind [00:51.50]I realized that Illinois was more than I could stand [00:56.50]They say working's best cause poverty is hell on a man [01:02.50]Now I ride a lazy river through the Mississippi fan [01:08.50]And if the best is for the best then the best can be damned [01:25.10]I spent a few years on the Queen of Spain [01:31.50]She was a leaky little boat that went up in flames [01:37.50]When the boiler blew some people started naming names [01:42.50]But if the best is for the best I guess the best is to blame [01:50.50]I spent a few more as the Cairo Crown [01:54.50]A heavyweight wrestler in the Midwest towns [02:00.50]But I was lonesome for a girl who could pin me down [02:06.50]They say the best is for the best but that's not what I've found [02:47.20]Now I listen to my sweetheart and I listen to my thirst [02:53.50]I don't spend time listening to other people's words [02:59.50]Sometimes they're right most times the reverse [03:05.50]They say the best is for the best when the best's for the worse [03:11.50]Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times [03:16.50]She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes [03:22.50]Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind [03:28.50]And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind [03:34.50]Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times [03:40.50]Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times