The Tourist Lyrics - Wynn Stewart

THE TOURIST 

Writer Wynn Stewart and Curtis Leach 

Copyright 1965 

I was just a tourist out on the great white way 

Where lights make night as bright as day and day as dark as night 

I visited the city seen all the finer sights 

Then I thought I'd do some slummin' for a little while one night 

Well I stepped into the shadows of a second rate cafe 

The burlesques were before me in their old familiar way 

As I drew near my table the front girl whirled around 

And I recognized my sweetheart from my own hometown 

Yes she was just a hometown high school beauty queen 

But everybody told her how she could be everything 

When the contest finally ended and the judges called her name 

She won a trip to Broadway where she would find the fame 

I slowly turned around and stepped back into crowd 

For I knew she mustn't seen me she always was too proud 

And in that one lonely moment the truth my mind unveiled 

The town she loved may failed her the town she thought she failed 

So that night I wrote a letter on a homeward bound express 

And it read congratulations to you on your success 

But if you should ever decide to come back home again 

Well you know I'll always be here waitin' just like I've always been 

I was just a tourist out on the great white way 

Where lights made night as bright as day and day as bright as night 

When old friends ask about her I just smile at them and say 

She's star of show on Broadway out on the great white way