Steve Earle — Back to the Wall

[Verse 1] Sometimes in the evening I start to get that feeling Like I'm empty inside I know I'm doing good now But tonight I'm headed downtown Down by the riverside I sit underneath the freeway With an old friend from the old days And a bottle of wine He used to call me "Big Time" Said he knew someday that I'd shine Said he'd seen all the signs [Chorus] Said, "Keep yourself to yourself Keep your bedroll dry And boy, you never can tell What the shadows hide Keep one eye on the ground Pick up whatever you find 'Cause you've got no place to fall When your back's to the wall" [Verse 2] He's getting old and it's showing So I asked him how it's going He said "I've seen better, I guess I've been rained on, I've been frozen But this here's the life I've chosen If it just wasn't for the loneliness Now this river suits me to a T But if you're trying to raise a family This ain't no place to be There's a kid down by the dump there Ought to be in grade school somewhere Now he hangs out with me and I told him [Chorus] "Keep yourself to yourself Keep your bedroll dry And boy, you never can tell What the shadows hide Keep one eye on the ground Pick up whatever you find 'Cause you've got no place to fall When your back's to the wall" [Verse 3] Well we finished off the bottle I told him, "Joe, I think I ought to be headed uptown" Well it was late and I'd been drinking Driving home, I got to thinking About what's been going down 'Cause they're nervous down on Wall Street They're trying to keep it upbeat Or maybe they just don't care Down at the river, eyes are burning They feel the tables turning So if you wind up down there [Chorus] Just keep yourself to yourself Keep your bedroll dry And boy, you never can tell What the shadows hide Keep one eye on the ground Pick up whatever you find 'Cause you've got no place to fall When your back's to the wall