Mr. Tanner

Mr. Tanner was a cleaner from a town in the Midwest

And of all the cleaning shops around he'd made his the best

He also was a baritone who sang while hangin' clothes

He practiced scales while pressin' tails and sang in local shows

His friends and neighbors praised the voice

That poured out from his throat

They said that he should use his gift instead of cleaning coats

But music was his life, it was not his livelihood

And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good

He sang from his heart and he sang from his soul

He did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole

His friends kept working on him to try music out full-time

A big debut and rave reviews, a great career to climb

Finally they got to him, he would take the fling

A concert agent in New York agreed to have him sing

There were plane tickets, phone calls, money spent to rent the hall

It took most of his savings but he gladly used them all

But music was his life, it was not this livelihood

And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good

He sang from his heart and he sang from his soul

He did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole

The evening came, he took the stage, his face set in a smile

In the half filled hall the critics sat watching on the aisle

The concert was a blur to him, spatters of applause

He did not know how well he sang, he only heard the flaws

But the critics were concise, it only took four lines

And no one could accuse them of being overkind

Mr. Martin Tanner, baritone of Dayton, Ohio

Made his town hall debut last night

He came well prepared, but unfortunately his presentation

Was not up to contemporary professional standards

HIs voice lacks the range of tonal color

Necessary to make it consistently interesting

Full time consideration of another endeavor might be in order

He came home to Dayton and was questioned by his friends

But he smiled and just said nothing and he never sang again

Excepting very late at night when the shop was dark and closed

He sang softly to himself as he sorted through the clothes

Music was his life, it was not his livelihood

And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good

And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul

He did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole