“Here’s a little song called Different Kind of Fool. I think we should all try to be a different kind of fool each and every day of the week. And I know I hold up my end of the bargain.”
-Introduction from a live performance on 25 Jun 1987
Well the moon finds me in peculiar light.
And it’s all because I am a lunar lunatic tonight.
I’m a crazy man, crazy ’bout my baby.
She’s a woman, by God, (and) she don’t have to be no lady.
I’ve been in this place before enough to make me say,
I’m a different kind of fool today.
I was fifteen when the world was a little younger.
Just a chubby teddy bear, with a funny kind of hunger.
Berries in the bushes, I was stumblin’ to snatch ’em.
Had these thorns in my paws, never thought I’d catch ’em.
I’ve been a fool for love, I let it guide my every way.
But I’m a different kind of fool today.
Well the breeze on your breast is just a lullaby sigh.
I’m gonna listen down low, ’til the mornin’ comes nigh.
Lullaby sigh, just a-rockin’ and a-rollin’,
When time stands still, it was meant to be stolen.
I hear God whisper softly as I’m kneeling down to pray,
“Hey, you’re a different kind of fool today.”
If I’m lucky enough to be a gray-haired fool.
I’ll still measure all my days by your Golden Rule.
Meet me there, I’ll wear a pink carnation.
Be the calendar girl in my service station.
If the world is a little older, if it hasn’t blown away,
We’ll be different kinds of fools someday.
The version on Piñata sports a chorus:
Different kind of fool.
Just can’t carry a façade of cool.
You’ve got me breaking every schoolhouse rule
Just to be a fool for you, baby.
Appears On:
Hey, Listen!
© and ℗ 1994, 2001, 2008, 2012 Marques Bovre/Brian Bauhs
An earlier version of “Different Kind of Fool” appeared on The Bathroom Tapes demo in 1987
Well the moon finds me in peculiar light
’Cause I’m a lunar lunatic tonight.
I’m a crazy man, I’m crazy ’bout my baby.
She’s a woman, by God, and she don’t have to be no lady.
Well I was sixteen when the world’s a little younger.
Chubby teddy bear, a funny kind of hunger.
Berries in the bushes, stumblin’ to snatch it.
Thorns in your paws and you never thought you’d catch it.
But I’m a big bear now
And this aint no game I play.
The world’s a little older now.
Some day it’s gonna blow away.
And I’ve been here before
But I’m a different kind of fool today.
Well the breeze on your breast is a lullaby sigh.
I’m gonna listen down low, ’til mornin’ comes nigh.
Lullaby pie, rockin’ and a-rollin’,
When time stands still, it was meant to be stolen.
And if I’m lucky enough to be a gray-haired fool
I’ll still measure my days by your Golden Rule.
Meet me there, I’ll wear a pink carnation.
Be the calendar girl in my service station.
But I’m a young man now
And I got some dues to pay.
The world don’t stop for dreams
When dreamers are old and in the hay.
But we’ll stop here again
As different kinds of fools someday.
© and ℗ 1987 Marques Bovre