Look at my face in the window
Of that big Mercedes Benz
I'm just another bum on the streets downtown
I ain't worked since God knows when
Each night in Bluesville I been hanging out
With all the usual layabouts
I lost my fight with the government
They stole my life and my confidence
Ain't had a job for so many years
Slip slidin' down in a big abyss
So many times got a knife in the back
That's how it goes on the wrong side of the tracks
What does it take to get lucky?
When you've been living on the edge
The price we pay to get happy
Is way too high for an ordinary man
What does it take to get lucky?
When you can't beat the government
When they can smell your desperation
Ain't got no money and no friends
So many times I've tried to finally get it right
Picked myself up again and got on with my life
I worked my life away, working for the basic wage
When they were done with me, I found myself out on the street
What happened to the dream of everything they promised me?
Am I supposed to fade away and leave another vacant space?
Fade to gray and disappear, like I was never really here?
If there's a God above, I need a shot of love
What does it take to get lucky?
We live from one day to the next
The bankers and the politicians
Are living high off the ordinary man
What does it take to get lucky?
We try to make some sense of it
They feed off all our desperation
Driving us down to the bitter end
We all just live our lives from one day to the next
Pick ourselves up again and try to make amends
There'll always be some guy holding up another sign
You can't do this and you can't do
That and you'd just better pay your tax
Ain't gonna live my life by the laws of church and state
I'll keep on working for my independence day
Break away and disappear, ain't gonna live in fear
If there's a God above, I need a shot of love