I was waiting on a ship to Vietnam and me being the good time loving guy I am I was looking for some female company I met a girl alone and lonesome just like me We had coffee at a waterfront cafe she said her husband was a soldier far away And she talked about her long nights all alone And the way she's fought temptation since he's gone 1460 Elder Street is where she took me And I never knew that love could be so sweet Then she promised me that when the war was over I'd have a home at 1460 Elder Street [ fiddle ] Two months later I was on patrol one day When a hand grenade fell not ten feet away I watched as one brave man gave all that he could give He fell across it gave his life that I might live I found a crumpled tear stained letter in his coat And I read the Dear John Letter his wife wrote He had nothing left for livin' for I guess I thought I die when I saw her return adress 1460 Elder Street still drives me crazy And sometimes at night we find it hard to sleep Could it be the ones who killed him Now are sharing our private hell at 1460 Elder Street