[Verse 1] Mister Tanner was a cleaner from a town in the Midwest And of all the cleaning shops around he'd made his the best He also was a baritone who sang while hanging clothes He practiced scales while pressing tails and sang at local shows His friends and neighbors praised the voice that poured out from his throat They said that he should use his gift instead of cleaning coats [Chorus] (O fall on your knees) But music was his life, it was not his livelihood (O hear the angel voices) And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good (O night divine) He sang from his heart and he sang from his soul (O night, O night divine) He did not know how well he sang; it just made him whole [Verse 2] His friends kept working on him to try music out full time A big debut and rave reviews, a great career to climb Finally they got to him; he would take the fling A concert agent in New York agreed to have him sing There were plane tickets, phone calls Money spent to rent the hall It took most of his savings, but he gladly used them all [Chorus] (O fall on your knees) But music was his life, it was not his livelihood (O hear the angel voices) And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good (O night divine) He sang from his heart and he sang from his soul (O night, O night divine) He did not know how well he sang; it just made him whole [Verse 3] The evening came, he took the stage, his face set in a smile In the half-filled hall the critics sat watching on the aisle The concert was a blur to him, spatters of applause He did not know how well he sang; he only heard the flaws But the critics were concise; it only took four lines And no one could accuse them of being overkind [Bridge, spoken] Mr. Martin Tanner, baritone, of Dayton, Ohio made his Town Hall debut last night. He came well prepared, but unfortunately his presentation was not up to contemporary professional standards. His voice lacks the range of tonal color necessary to make it consistently interesting.  (sung) Full time consideration of another endeavor might be in order.  [Verse 4] He came home to Dayton and was questioned by his friends But he smiled and just said nothing and he never sang again Excepting very late at night when the shop was dark and closed He sang softly to himself as he sorted through the clothes [Chorus] (O fall on your knees) But music was his life, it was not his livelihood (O hear the angel voices) And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good (O night divine) And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul (O night, O night divine) He did not know how well he sang; it just made him whole