Ely Joe - Standin' At A Big Hotel lyrics

(Butch Hancock)

I was standin at a big hotel

wishin everybody well

but if anybody paid me any mind it was hard to tell

a big policeman on his beat

pulled his pistol and he pointed at me

lookin down the barrel I could see the gates of hell

I was Standin' At A Big Hotel

so i went walkin down the avenue

lookin for someone who looked like you

but I never saw a face that seemed to ring a bell

so I stopped beside the five and dime

just window-shoppin and wastin time

when along came a gal who sold me all she had to sell

she left me Standin' At A Big Hotel

I lost my mind in the wilds of Hollywood

I did some time in the shadows where I stood

I let the cards fall where they fell...

and I found myself Standin' At A Big Hotel

a blind lady with a big tin cup

had her pencils all sharpened up

she was standin in the door just to see what she could sell

but nobody bought a thing all night

they thought she was a pitiful sight

Lord help the gal who helps herself

Standin' At A Big Hotel

long gone are horse n buggy days

big limousines are here to stay

and when they see you to the door

they want something for their help

but I saw somebody make a little slip

he only left the kid a ten cent tip

you shoulda heard what I heard when I heard that bell boy yell...

Standin' At A Big Hotel

Lord Lord what's the matter with me

to pay so much for the song I sing

when all I was doin was singin it to myself

like standin in a stagnant stream

with nothin in the world left to dream

I was dyin at the bottom of a dried up wishin well

I was Standin' At A Big Hotel

well I know what you're thinkin today

I can feel it though I'm miles away

everybody knows I love my southern belle

but from the east to the wild wild west

they say a bird in the hand is best

so here I am with a bird dog and a bottle of muscatel

Standin' At A Big Hotel