Back to the Wall

Well sometimes in the evenings I start to get that feeling

Like I'm empty inside

I know I'm doin' good now but tonight I'm headed downtown

Down by the riverside

I sit underneath the freeway with an old friend from the old days

And a bottle of wine

Well he used to call me "big time", and he knew someday that I'd shine

Said he'd seen all the signs

He said . .

"keep yourself to yourself

Keep your bedroll dry

And boy you never can tell

What the shadows hide

Keep ene eve on the ground

Pick up whatever you find

'cause you've got no place to fall

When your back's to the wall"

He's gettin' old and it's showin' when I asked him how it's goin'

He said "i've seen better I guess

I've been rained on, I've been frozen, but this here's the life I've chosen

If it just wasn't for the loneliness"

Now this river suits me to a t. but if you're trying to raise a family

It ain't no place to be

There's a kid down by the dump there, ought to be in grade school somewhere

Now he hangs out with me

And I told him . . ."

Well we finished off the bottle and I told him,"joe I think I ought to

Be headed uptown"

Well it was late, and I'd been drinkin', drivin' home I got to thinkin'

'bout what's been going down

Cause they're nervous down on wall street, but they're trying to keep it upbeat

Or maybe they just don't care

But down at the river eyes are burnin' cause they feel the tables turnin'

So if you wind up down there . . .