The Life and Death of a Rodeo Clown

When Kirk Purcell was only three, a-sittin' on his grandpa's knee   

The old man gave im some strange and sage advice  

He said, Son, be a rodeo clown  

  

Ain't a better occupation  

Ain't a finer education  

In this whole damn nation  

Son, be a rodeo clown  

  

So Kirk Purcell became a rodeo clown  

Picked the cowboy up before he hit the ground  

And the crowd cheered and laughed  

As he carried the pain from town to town  

Just a day in the life  

Of a rodeo clown  

  

The people often mocked him  

The timekeeper never clocked him   

The crowd cheered as he tumbled to the ground   

Blood and dust fell like manna to the crowd  

But as his grandpa once told him  

The life of a rodeo clown  

Is bound to make Jesus proud  

  

Ain't a better occupation  

Ain't a finer education  

In this whole damn nation  

Son, be a rodeo clown  

  

Gotta be strong, gotta be brave  

Cause nobody knows how many you'll save  

Son, be a rodeo clown  

  

When a cowboy gets thrown hard in the dust  

He looks for the cowboy's hero  

Someone he can trust  

Sometimes all it takes is a helpin' hand  

To get ya' back on your feet again  

  

And far from the arena,  

Where some folks never seen a  

Rodeo before  

I took a limo to the airport   

and like the lonely bull I paced the lonely floor  

  

They said some folks was cryin'   

As Kirk Purcell lay dyin'  

But there was no help to be found  

There was no one to save  

The rodeo clown