A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND (PITTSBURGH)^©

Live 10 May 2005 version

It's cloudy out in Pittsburgh, it's raining in Saigon
Snow's fallin' all across the Michigan line
She sits by the lights of her Christmas tree
With the radio softly on
Thinkin' how a good man is so hard to find

Well once she had a fella
Once she was somebody's girl
She gave all she had that one last time
Here's a little girl asleep in the back room
She's gonna have to tell about the meanness in this world
How a good man is so hard to find

Well there's pictures on the table by her bed
Him in his dress blues and her in her wedding white*
She remembers how the world was the morning he left*
And a good man is so hard to find

She got no time now for Casanovas
Those days are gone
She don't want that anymore, she's made up her mind
Yeah just somebody to hold her as the night gets on
When a good man is so hard to find

Well she shuts off the TV, without a word
And into bed she climbs
She thinks how it was all so wasted
How good the dreams all were*
How a good man is so hard to find
How a good man is so hard to find

The above lyrics refer to the one and only live performance of the song. I was performed during the Devils & Dust tour on 10 May 2005 at Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, in honor of Sergeant Gerald Vick of the St. Paul Police Department who was killed in the line earlier that week. A Backstreets reader writes:

"An unbelievably touching performance of 'A Hard Man is Hard to Find' was dedicated to Sgt. Vick, a police officer who was recently killed in the line of duty. During the 'solo spot', Bruce blew a note or two on his harmonica before immediately backing off from the harp -- he then 'whistled' a solo. A jaw-dropping, hand-me-a-tissue-moment."

* Note that the lyrics on this version differ from the Tracks version (more details).

Spoken intro on 10 May 2005 at Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN:

Nah, I ??? when I sing this next song [chuckles]. Just joking [chuckles]. Sorry. Got a uh, got a letter before I came in tonight, somebody sent to me. Uh, I want do a song for sergeant Gerald Vick. He was uh... [cheers] I just uh, I just knew when, when I read the letter certainly was very uh, uh, just a good man and an important presence in town. Like, like leaves the family behind and shot during the duty. Well, this is memory of sergeant Gerald Vick, this song.