Sake of the Song

[Verse 1]
If you're nobody's business or you're front page news
Folk, Rock, Country or Delta Blues
Tell your truth however you choose
And do it all for the sake of the song
Yeah, hitchhike, and bus ride and rental cars
Living rooms, coffee houses, rundown bars
Ten thousand people or alone under the stars
It's all for the sake of the song

[Chorus 1]
There's the man who wrote "Your Cheatin' Heart"
Now he's lying through his tooth
And he plays it on a stolen harp
That's soaked in hundred proof
And there's one who might be happy
But for the writer’s curse
She lost the crowd's attention
By the forty second verse

[Verse 2]
It's the travelling salesman, the girl next door
On the empty room to the bird on the corner
Less is less until more is more
And it's all for the sake of the song

[Chorus 2]
And there's the young man on the marquee
He’s the son of some well-known
And his father bought the tour bus
So he could strike out on his own
And there's the brooding contradiction
Yeah, he's holding Van Gogh's ear
And he's taped it to his guitar
In the hope someone will hear

[Verse 3]
It's black berets and Nudie Suits
The next big thing or getting back to your roots
High-tops, flannels or duct tape boots
And it's all for the sake of the song

[Chorus 3]
And there's the mystic, there's the legend
There's the best that's ever been
And there's the voice of a generation
Who wants to pass this way again
And there's record deals and trained seals
And puppets on a string
And they're all just trying to figure out
What makes the caged bird sing

[Verse 4]
It's lights, camera, on with the show
Lifetime to get ready, now go cat go
Where it all ends, nobody knows
But it's all for the sake of the song

[Outro]
So if you're nobody's business or you're front page news
Folk, Rock, Country or Delta Blues
Tell your truth however you choose
And do it all for the sake of the song