I remember that summer I was ten years old When our days ceased to shine No, you could not take a breath When those black blizzards came Strippin' land in dire need of rain There was dirt on the floor As mama swept all day long Leavin' trails of tears and mud down her face There was dirt in our beds And there was dirt in our clothes And there was dirt in the little that we ate We had heard about the market's fall A couple years before But the fields and the harvest all seemed fine Sometimes the things that kill us That which we don't know That strip the land of everything but pride Stay close together That's all we knew to get by I recall a helpless feelin' First time that I saw my father cry Looking back on everything we had, on everything we lost Still makes me wonder was staying worth the cost? But the town folk up and left They boarded up the schools and banks and the churches And that, to me, was wrong Come next year, it would be better For the last one standing tall For the ones, that showed the most resolved. They announced the New Deal With the Conservation Act and then the Relief Fund But we were on our knees There was little hope by then So we just stood there in that line And we thanked the man for that little bit of cheese Stay close together That's all we knew to get by How I recall a helpless feelin' The first time that I saw my father cry Looking back on everything we had, on everything we lost Still makes me wonder was stayin' worth the cost?

He wakes with the chickens and the Waco sun He's got mouths to feed and cattle to run Same as his daddy and his daddy done It's all he's ever known In this modern world movin' break-neck fast He's a dyin' breed, a thing of the past He'll be damned if he don't hit back If you stand in his way When there's nothin' more to say So here's to the lifers The struggle-and-strifers Workin' long after the day is done Here's to the broke-backs The cowboys in old hats The last of the Great Generation It seems they still dream She's a renaissance girl with a fire in her soul She's got a pocket full of nothin', nobody tells her "no" She flew into town twenty years ago With a guitar and a song She's been playin' them rooms but she ain't got far Been livin' off tips in them Broadway bars She's a troubadour queen but time left its mark The scene's passed her by In a world that's passed her by So here's to the lifers The struggle-and-strifers Workin' long after the day is done Here's to the broke-backs The cowboys in old hats The last of the Great Generation It seems they still dream No, they don't give up and they don't give in When things don't go their way Yeah we're gettin' knocked down, yeah we're gettin' back up Live to die another day So here's to the lifers The struggle-and-strifers Workin' long after the day is done Here's to the broke-backs The cowboys in old hats The last of the Great Generation It seems they still dream

Strong liquor and an empty glass And three weeks that kicked my ass This runnin' ragged sure is hell on me I'm nine miles a minute, and I'm head-long in it And she knows she's in up to her knees And she's patient when she's had enough That's how she shows me love And she gives me more than she gets from me Sometimes the whole thing gets me down It takes more than love to turn around And I have mercy when I need it That's one thing I'll always need And she knows it And Lord, shе shows it And she gives me еvery reason to believe I have mercy when I need it And that's one thing I always need And she knows it And Lord, she shows it She gives me every reason to believe And she knows it And Lord, she shows it And she gives me every reason to believe Strong liquor and an empty glass Three weeks that kicked my ass This runnin' ragged sure is hell on me

I've never been the kind to just turn and run Never lost a battle with a loaded gun Never been confused about who I am Or what I think it takes for me to be a man But lately it's been hell just trying to get by Livin' like I'm livin' on a borrowed dime Watchin' my friends as they're all having fun Whiskey won't you help me make it through this one Cause I don't mind I'll sit here and keep on grinnin', drowned my head and keep on livin', I don't mind Guess I'll drink another bottle and drown another sorrow I don't mind I can't wait another minute, won't you help me to forget it again Well tonight's been slower than it's ever been Staring at the clock at closing time again The bartender tells me it's time to go Got a bottle of the venom waiting back at home Come tomorrow I'll probably buy some more Black Label Even Williams from the liquor store Back to the bar until my drinkins done Whiskey won't you help me make it through this one Cause I don't mind I'll sit here and keep on grinnin', drowned my head and keep on livin', I don't mind Guess I'll drink another bottle and drown another sorrow I don't mind I can't wait another minute, won't you help me to forget it again Cause I don't mind I'll sit here and keep on grinnin', drowned my head and keep on livin', I don't mind Guess I'll drink another bottle and drown another sorrow I don't mind I can't wait another minute, won't you help me to forget it again

Who's this stranger in the mirror The one that's lookin' back at me? He ain't familiar, I don't know this guy Who in the world could it be? It ain't me, there ain't no way And the stranger is getting stranger everyday The guy I'm lookin' for, he's a young man He ain't scarred-up and gettin' old He's a good kid from the country Your eyes are big-city-cold It ain't me, there ain't no way And the stranger is getting stranger everyday Maybe I'm goin' crazy Could be losing my mind Lookin' for someone familiar That I knew one time Stranger, hear me talking Listen up to what I have to say Waitin' for an answer... silence And the stranger is getting stranger everyday Maybe I'm goin' crazy Could be losin' my mind Lookin' for someone familiar That I knew one time Who's this stranger in the mirror?