We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Jasper

from Greatest Hits by Forrest Cooper

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Inspired by Hobo Bill, this song evokes the simplicity of my grandfather, a devout Christian who loved poems and stories. Although, I am sure he would have disapproved of Jasper's drinking.

lyrics

Jasper (c)

Jasper was a loner and he lived down by the park
He used a worn-out blanket to keep warm when it got dark
If you had time to listen oh the stories he could tell
About a time when he was young and living oh so well
Cars and money were his life and a big house all his own
Somewhere he lost three kids and a wife
‘cause he didn’t have time for home
No he didn’t have time for home.

Jasper was a millionaire with money in the bank
He’d reached the top but couldn’t stop to give the Lord his thanks
So he gave his hoard to help the poor and he traveled on his thumb
Jasper lived a simple life for he was just a bum
A dumpster was his grocery store and hunger was a friend
To pass the time he drank his wine and chatted with the wind
Yeah he chatted with the wind

Jasper thanked the Lord above for the way in which he’d come
His friends condemned the life of sin they saw in Jasper’s rum
They knew so well the road to hell that they couldn’t see the light
That shown in Jasper’s eyes when he helped hobos through the night
Life was hard as winter came and Jasper was growing old
But he loved to share with the others there
As they shivered in the cold
Yeah they shivered in the cold.

On a summer day they found him laying under a willow tree
And none could say when he passed away for he died there in his sleep
He left a life of power and strife and became a better man
Now God has taken him away up to that promised land
Jasper gave his life on earth so that he could save his soul
But the choice he made was well repaid for he’s walking the streets of gold
Yeah he’s walking the streets of gold.
He’s walking the streets of gold.

credits

from Greatest Hits, released March 13, 2021
Music and lyrics by Forrest Cooper, mixing by Peter Bauer Studios, Eugene, Oregon. Music and lyrics by Forrest Cooper, mixing by Peter Bauer Studios, Eugene, Oregon. © 2018 Forrest Cooper, use by permission.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Forrest Cooper image

Forrest Cooper Elmira, Oregon

contact / help

Contact Forrest Cooper

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Forrest Cooper, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now