Never Knocked Me Down (Live Acoustic)

[Intro]
Well, I wrote this song in the middle of the night
It was ac— actually after I was watching a sh— movie called "Raging Bull"
Story of Jake Lamotta with Robert De Niro
And Martin Scorsese and, uh, it's been out forever
I don't know what year it was, but
I was watchin' it few years ago, and
I was in between record deals and in between management deals and
In between a whole lot of things
And startin' a whole lot of other things
I just had a baby, and, uh
My wife just had a baby, actually
I was part of it
But, uh
I was kind of wondering, you know
I knew the, uh, I knew the fire that I still had inside to make music and to—
And to, uh, get my music heard
But, uh, I was, I was in a awkward spot to— to try and do anything about it
And a friend of mine who's a music critic who liked my last record
Had started out a— a piece on me sayin', "He coulda been a contender," and
This was before I saw the movie, but it—
It kind of, you know, pissed— pissed me off a bit, 'cause I—
I kinda thought, you know
Fairly young guy and just to kinda write off an entire, you know
Decade worth of work with "He coulda been a contender," I thought
I just thought it was a little early for that
And so I was watchin' the story of Jake Lamotta and I just thought it was funny, and
The similarities between the music business and the boxing business
And what a bloody sport it can be
And, uh
I started thinking about it and I figured
"Well, you gotta learn how to take a punch
Just don't ever let 'em knock you down"

[Verse 1]
You could've been a contender
The next great white hope
Not just another pretender
Not just the next big joke
You had to reach for the stars, though
Nobody gets it all
Without playin' the game, son
You're gonna take a fall

[Chorus]
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down

[Verse 2]
You don't get nothin' for nothin'
Ain't that what they all say?
We're all fightin' for somethin'
But there's a price we pay
And you can stand there forever
Just take it blow by blow
Nobody else is the wiser
They just came for the show

[Chorus]
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down

[Verse 3]
In the fists of a stranger
There's a shadow of doubt
Go on, pretend you're a winner
Go on, sell yourself out

[Chorus]
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down

[Outro]
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down
You never knocked me down