I could've been a contender I could've been almost anything I could've been a contender I could've been almost anything If not for you If not for you If not for you If not for you If not for you Contender Contender And all the falls I took them down And for what Everything turned on the head of a pin Like a shell that's no longer intact It's inner strength no longer there A child's toy is thrown away And too broken to repair And now and then I wonder why That when luck came it passed me by As if some force had tied me down I'd marked the pegs and staked the ground I'll come back strong I promise you Though some of me has changed My soul's intact the rest of me Is more than rearranged It's true It's true It's true Contender Contender And all the falls I turned them down And for what I could've been a contender I could've been almost anything I could've been a contender I could've been almost anything It's not like we're equal It's not like we're equal It's not like we're equal It's not like we're equal If not for you Contender Contender And all the lies I turned them down And all the lies I turned them down