Verse 1
It was hot and I was thirsty
So I pulled off for a beer
The woman said "you need ID or I can't serve your here"
She had that slightly hardened look
Like all barmaids often do
As they wait to send you packing
At the first sign that you might get rude
Verse 2
I still remember
When I was eight years old
They called us to the lunchroom and told us JFK was gone
My teacher she was crying
I felt so bad for her
That was the part I understood
About the rest I wasn't sure
That night on the TV
We watched the way he died
I was born in '55 ma'am
I was born in '55
Verse 3
Then the fight for civil rights
Marches, strikes, and tested wills
No one was surprised that much when Martin Luther King was killed
'Cause change, it comes in fits and starts
With no regard for lives
I was born in '55, ma'am
I was born in '55
Verse 3
Then just two months later
Bobby died that day
That little bastard shot him in a hotel in LA
At that point, three great men were dead
And Nixon left alive
I was born in '55, ma'am
I was born in '55
Verse 3
I recall the headlines on the papers that my father read
There were numbers for the wounded and numbers for the dead
Hendrix lit up Woodstock in 1969
I was born in '55, ma'am
I was born in '55
Verse 4
Finally she just looked at me
And lit a cigarette
Put a cold one on the bar
I drank it then I left
I walked out to my car
And I went on with my drive
I was born in '55
I was born in '55
I was born in '55
I was born in '55
