Local Hero

I was driving through my hometown

I was just kinda killing time

When I seen a face staring out of a black velvet painting from the window of the Five and Dime

I couldn't quite recall the name

But the pose looked familiar to me

So I asked the salesgirl, "Who was that man

Between the Doberman and Bruce Lee?"

She said, "Just a local hero"

"Local hero", she said with a smile

"Yeah, a local hero

He used to live here for a while"

I met a stranger dressed in black at the train station

He said, "Son, your soul can be saved"

There's beautiful women, nights of low living

And some dangerous money to be made

There's a big town 'cross the whiskey line

And if we turn the right cards up

Well, they make us boss, the devil pays off

And them folks that are real hard up

They get their local hero

Yeah, somebody with the right style

They get their local hero

Yeah, somebody with just the right smile

Well, I learned my job, I learned it well

Fit myself with religion and a story to tell

First they made me the king, then they made me pope

Well, then they brought the rope, whoa!

I woke to a gypsy girl saying, "Drink this"

Well, my hands had lost all sensation

These days I'm feeling all right

Except I can't tell my courage from my desperation

From the tainted chalice

Well, I drunk some heady wine

Tonight I'm laying here, but there's something in my ear

Saying there's a little town just beneath the floodline

Needs a local hero

Yeah, somebody with the right style

Looking for a local hero

Yeah, someone with the right smile

Looking for a local hero

Yeah, somebody with the right smile

Looking for a local hero

Yeah, somebody with just the right smile

Local hero, "Local hero", she said with a smile

Local, local hero, he used to live here for a while

Local hero (Oh yeah)

Local hero (Yeah, yeah)

Local hero (Hoo, hoo, hoo)

Local hero