(I started writin' the song about Chris Gantry)
(Ended up writin' about Dennis Hopper)
(And Johnny Cash and Norman Norbert)
(Funky Donny Fritts and Billy Swan Bobby Neuwirth)
(And Jerry Jeff Walker and Paul Siebel)
(And Ramblin' Jack Elliot had a lot to do with it)
See him wasted on the sidewalk
In his jacket and his jeans
Wearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smile
Once he had a future full of money love and dreams
Which he spent like they was goin' out of style
And he keeps right on a changin'
For the better or the worse
Searchin' for a shrine he's never found
Never knowin' if believin' is a blessin' or a curse
Or if the goin' up was worth the comin' down
He's a poet and he's a picker
He's a prophet and he's a pusher
He's a pilgrim and a preacher
And a problem when he's stoned
He's a walkin' contradiction
Partly truth and partly fiction
Takin' every wrong direction
On his lonely way back home
He has tasted good and evil
In your bedrooms and your bars
And he's traded in tomorrow for today
Runnin' from his devils, Lord
And reachin' for the stars
And losin' all he loved along the way
But if this world keeps right on turnin'
For the better or the worse
And all he ever gets is older and around
From the rockin' of the cradle
To the rollin' of the hearse
The goin' up was worth the comin' down
He's a poet and he's a picker
He's a prophet and he's a pusher
He's a pilgrim and a preacher
And a problem when he's stoned
He's a walkin' contradiction
Partly truth and partly fiction
Takin' every wrong direction
On his lonely way back home
There's lotta wrong directions
On that lonely way back home