E         B        E
I was the cleaning man
E         B        E
I was the cleaning man
A                                          E
Listened to the radio play 'Cowgirl in the Sand'
E              B        E
When I was the cleaning man


[Verse 2]
E         B        E
I was the cleaning man
A
After everyone had come
                      E
To talk and drink and dance
A                                               E
I could see the evening scene reflecting in the cans
    A                                    E
Now echoes of the empty room return with loneliness
A
And in the darkness of the night
                   E
I take the devil's hand
     E         B        E
When I was the cleaning man


[Verse 3]
E     A            E
I was death's hand
E     B     E
I was heroin
   B                         E
To somebody I shouldn't have been


[Verse 4]
E     B     E
I was heroin
E     B           E
I was death's hand
A                                             E
I was the thief who stole all those women and men
A                                        E
I stood at the funerals of relatives and friends
A                                                     E
And like a Midas eye wishing my greed and curse would end


[Outro]
E              B        E
When I was the cleaning man
E              B        E
When I was the cleaning man
E              B        E
When I was the cleaning man