Touro Infirmary

[By Dr. John]

I went down to the Touro Infirmary,
Lord knows, and I found my running partner there.
He was stretched out on a coal-black table, yes he was.
Lord, the narcotic agent left him there.

He was gone, he was gone,
God don’t you miss him?
A better man than him can never be found.
All the characters on the street all around here
They all know he’s laid his burden down.

He said, “When I go, when I go,
Lay a ten-dollar gold piece on my eyelids.
Lord knows I want loaded craps in shoes.
I want the finest whores off of Bourbon Street
And I want to hear Professor Longhair sing a low-down blues.”

I went down to the Touro Infirmary
And I seen my sweet running partner there.
He was stretched out, with a DOA sticker
With a .32 hole in his hair.

You know they say Chief Giarrusso had warned him:
"Son you can’t win this game."
But that never stopped him as long as he was living.
Yeah Lord, you can’t hold the boy to blame.

Yeah went down to the Touro Infirmary
Lord knows that I seen my running partner there.
He was stretched out on a coal black table, yes he was .
It made me cry to see him there.

Let him go let, him let him go, him let him go, him let him go,
Straight to heaven.
I know none of you dirty rats expect him there.
He was a better man than all the ones that expect to arrive
From that Touro Infirmary, he don’t care.

Touro Infirmary.
Yeah.

Note: These are the lyrics as I hear them. In Dr. John's book Under A Hoodoo Moon, the lyrics are apparently published with a few differences. Most significantly, in place of the line, "With a .32 hole in his hair," the book says it's "With a .323 special in his hand." Also, the book includes an "alternate lyric" for one section:

It was a cold black night last winter
Five coal black horses on Prytania Street
Five coal black ho's all dressed in leather
Waitin' by the Touro Infirmary)