A derelict, a loser, a drunkard, a worm
the street's vile excretion of humanless form
What worthless encounter with one to be spurned
Who needs the likes of a man like John Byrnes?

The empty expressions of vagrants walk by
I wonder what's in them and when did it die
So easy to hate, so easy to scorn
So easy to wish that they'd never been born

What good could it do him if I gave him a pence?
He would only just spend it, so it doesn't make sense
He's a burden we're sure, but we're still long to learn
What to do with this problem, one like John Byrnes

Imagine you're life as a child at just two
Your world is in flames and your mother's is too
You're dropped through the air with nowhere to turn
But land gently and safely in the arms of John Byrnes

How far apart do we think that we are
from the vermin, the urine or the drunk at the bar?
We may like it or not, but we still have to learn
When we look in the mirror, we see the face of John Byrnes

A derelict, a loser, a drunkard, a worm
the street's vile excretion of humanless form
What worthless encounter with one to be spurned
Who needs the likes of a man like John Byrnes?

-Parker 1997

In the week of Sept. 24th 1997 a homeless man named John Byrnes was walking by a building in Queens where he heard calls for help. He looked up to see a woman and her two year old child leaning out a window from a building that was on fire. He quickly called to the woman to drop her child down to him which she did. After that he secured a ladder and went up to rescue the woman. Both the woman and the child came out unharmed.

Afterwards John Byrnes told the press he didn't understand all the "hero" fuss, because, he said he was only a drunk and had no idea how he was able to do such a thing.