All my life I knew Tommy Brown We grew up together in the same hometown I never thought Tommy was such a bad guy But folks would always whispered when he walked by Tom, Tom, Tommy Brown meanest boy in all the town Everybody said he'd turned out bad They said he had stole and I guess he had But nobody offered him a helping hand They just went and said over again Oh Tom, Tom, Tommy Brown meanest boy in all the town I loved a girl named Betty Lou strange thing was Tom loved her too She was kind to him and seemed to understand That if somebody loved him he could be a man The three of us were the best of friends And stuck together through thick and thin But we all knew that the time would come She'd have to choose between me and Tom Oh Tom, Tom, Tommy Brown meanest boy in all the town Then came Pearl Harbor and the war was on I answered the call and so did Tom When we laughed at Betty we would plainly see She had made her choice and the guy was me We landed in Hadley the fighting was hard Many were dying and the rest were tired Every man there gave his very best But who was the one that I'd fought to rest Tom, Tom, Tommy Brown bravest boy in all the town We were both in a fox hole the bullets were flying When an enemy soldier slipped up behind He aimed at me but Tom acted fast He jumped between and I heard the blast I got the soldier too late I could see 'Cause Tom stopped the bullet that was meant for me His body crumpled the smoke cleared away And it seemed to me he had a smile on his face So Tom, Tom, Tommy Brown bravest boy in all the town We buried him there and left across the sea Where I wrote these words he died for me And nobody knew but the one of us he died to save the boy she loved Tom, Tom, Tommy Brown bravest boy in all the town Tom, Tom, Tommy Brown bravest boy in all the town