Help with lyrics in english

[Spectrum75]

Hi,
I was listening "Nothing man" from Bruce Springsteen's album "The rising".
And as I have a very limited undestanding of english, I have a hard time to get this specific part:

You can call me Joe
Buy me a drink and shake my hand
You want courage
I'll show you courage you can understand

Pearl and silver
Restin' on my night table

It's just me Lord, pray I'm able

It's the part of the "the pearl and silver..."
I searched for  "the pearl and silver" on google, and it finds in the wikipedia "The Spider and the Fly (poem)", but I don't see any relation...

Any help ? What does "the pearl and silver" refer to?
(And what means that they are on the night table ?)

Thanks!

[odin]

Looking at the full lyrics it sounds like the song's about a man who died and as floating around in his hometown as a spirit, visiting his love. What the pearl and silver mean however, perhaps (silver) moonlight reflected in something?

-edit-
Ah, looks like he blew his brains out. The silver/pearl could mean a nickel-plated gun with pearl handgrips.

'The nothing man': low self esteem, goes to a bar to drink himself courage...

Or is that all too far fetched?

-editedit-

Compare the story of "Nothing Man," a tale of a soldier returning from a nameless war to find people relatively oblivious to all that is happening, to the comparatively blunt "Born in the USA." "Nothing Man" clearly applies to today but could apply to any military action of the past 20 years, or even events in the future.

According to fakejazz.com

[Spectrum75]

Ah, looks like he blew his brains out. The silver/pearl could mean a nickel-plated gun with pearl handgrips

Ok, at first, I thought that he was considering doing so, not that he already did it. And like he was the one who survived not the one who died. But maybe I got it wrong. :shrug:

Thanks for the link, too!  ;-)

[metalman]

refers to a nickel plated pearl handled revolver.

Army officers commonly carried Colt Single Action Army .45 revolvers, with ivory handles, although they were mis described as pearl by newspaper writers. General George Patton carried two as his trademark look.