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Beat the Devil
<small>Archives: [[/archive 01|01]] [[/archive 02|02]]
<small>Archives: [[/archive 01|01]] [[/archive 02|02]]
</small>
</small>
----
It was winter time in Nashville, down on music city row.<br>
And I was lookin' for a place to get myself out of the cold.<br>
To warm the frozen feelin' that was eatin' at my soul.<br>
Keep the chilly wind off my guitar. <br>
<br>
My thirsty wanted whisky; my hungry needed beans, <br>
But it'd been of month of paydays since I'd heard that eagle scream.<br>
So with a stomach full of empty and a pocket full of dreams,<br>
I left my pride and stepped inside a bar.<br>
<br>
Actually, I guess you'd could call it a Tavern:<br>
Cigarette smoke to the ceiling and sawdust on the floor;<br>
Friendly shadows.<br>
<br>
I saw that there was just one old man sittin' at the bar.<br>
And in the mirror I could see him checkin' me and my guitar.<br>
An' he turned and said: "Come up here boy, and show us what you are."<br>
I said: "I'm dry." He bought me a beer.<br>
<br>
He nodded at my guitar and said: "It's a tough life, ain't it?"<br>
I just looked at him. He said: "You ain't makin' any money, are you?"<br>
I said: "You've been readin' my mail."<br>
He just smiled and said: "Let me see that guitar.<br>
"I've got something you oughta hear."<br>
Then he laid it on me: <br>
<br>
"If you waste your time a-talkin' to the people who don't listen,<br>
"To the things that you are sayin', who do you think's gonna hear.<br>
"And if you should die explainin' how the things that they complain about,<br>
"Are things they could be changin', who do you think's gonna care?"<br>
<br>
There were other lonely singers in a world turned deaf and blind,<br>
Who were crucified for what they tried to show.<br>
And their voices have been scattered by the swirling winds of time.<br>
'Cos the truth remains that no-one wants to know.<br>
<br>
Well, the old man was a stranger, but I'd heard his song before,<br>
Back when failure had me locked out on the wrong side of the door.<br>
When no-one stood behind me but my shadow on the floor,<br>
And lonesome was more than a state of mind.<br>
<br>
You see, the devil haunts a hungry man,<br>
If you don't wanna join him, you got to beat him.<br>
I ain't sayin' I beat the devil, but I drank his beer for nothing.<br>
Then I stole his song.<br>
<br>
And you still can hear me singin' to the people who don't listen,<br>
To the things that I am sayin', prayin' someone's gonna hear.<br>
And I guess I'll die explaining how the things that they complain about,<br>
Are things they could be changin', hopin' someone's gonna care.<br>
<br>
I was born a lonely singer, and I'm bound to die the same,<br>
But I've got to feed the hunger in my soul.<br>
And if I never have a nickle, I won't ever die ashamed.<br>
'Cos I don't believe that no-one wants to know.<br>