King of the Shine ©James Gordon 2000
For Bill Myers, age 92, - king of the shine and a true philosopher of the sole.
Hey son, are you new to Middletown?
Come on over, sit yourself down;
That's a fine pair of cowboy boots you're sportin'.
I could get those lookin' mighty fine.
I've been a shoe-shine boy since back when a shine
And a little spit and polish was important.
Used to do wing-tips and fancy brogues,
Army boots, yes I'd do those
For officers heading off to the war.
I'd get those brushes going like a locomotive,
I'd be singing right along you know it's
Something you don't see much anymore.
Chorus:
If you see a man who's got a shine on his shoes,
He's got a shiny outlook too,
An outlook I haven't seen much since those times
When they'd call me "King of the Shine".
These days kids grow up and they go to college,
Without ever getting a decent polish,
No wonder they turn out the way they do.
It's pretty slow around here these days.
All the business is out by the interstate,
It's just a few old timers that come through.
Don't get me started I could go on for hours,
Remembering the days of Eisenhower,
When men were men and a shine was still a dime.
Now people don't seem to care about nothin'
They wear their shoes all dirty and scuffed and
There's just no polish to their lives.
If you see a man who's got a shine on his shoes,
He's got a shiny outlook too,
An outlook I haven't seen much since those times
When they'd call me "King of the Shine".
That's two dollars for the shine,
I've been doing this since I was nine,
Now I'm 92, but I'm not worried ,because,
I'm gonna die with a smile on my face,
'Cause I know I'm gonna leave this place
A little shinier than it was.