Goodwill Coat
There were clothes and pans and paintings, all with yellow tags
And I found an old Navy peacoat on the clearance rack
The collar it was threadbare and its seams were coming apart
But deep in it's pocket, I found an old purple heart
I paid my four dollars, then I asked the clerk
Who donated that weathered coat, if he knew where they were
He handed me an address, said I might find someone there
Just touching that sacred medal, I knew I wasn't fit to wear
(chorus)
That Goodwill coat made of time and wool
faded midnight blue, missing a button or two
Still inside, the courage and a soul
Like it was sewn in to the lining of that Goodwill coat
Well I finally found that sailor at the Desert-view nursing home
Trapped inside a wheelchair there was Corpsman William Jones
He was staring in the distance in a room with empty walls
But his blue eyes started smiling when he looked up and saw
That Goodwill coat made of time and wool
faded midnight blue, missing a button or two
Still inside, the courage and a soul
Like it was sewn in to the lining of that Goodwill coat
(bridge)
He took that coat and then the medal and felt them with his hands
And (he) began to tell me stories of war on distant sands
I went back to that thrift store and paid two dollars more
For a large oil painting of a western shore
I hung it on the wall beside that old sailor's bed
So he could sit there watching that ocean view sunset
That Goodwill coat made of time and wool
faded midnight blue, missing a button or two
Still inside, the courage and a soul
Like it was sewn in to the lining of that Goodwill coat
(tag)
There were clothes and pans and paintings all with yellow tags
And I found an old Navy peacoat on the clearance rack
George/ Bohn c 2005
