1. "Well now way back in the Bible, temptations always come along..." With a power that I swear could knock over Mister King Kong Temptations nail the weak ones, temptations nail the strong There's always somebody tempting somebody into doing something they know is wrong And the Garden of Eden, man, that's a place I don't belong

2. "Families sleepin' in their cars in the southwest..." Thought movin' to California would turn things around for the best Banker looked at them, laughed, said "They're failin' the test" Harborin' pain they can't get off their chests No home no job no peace no rest

3. "Now everyone dreams of a love lasting and true..." But you're tired of me and I'm tired of you But you and I know what this world can do But be honest with me baby, am I good enough for you? But there's too much good stuff darlin' we're still waitin' to do

4. "Now I work down at the carwash where all it ever does is rain..." Gimme one more chance now girl, I promise that I can explain My days are filled with sadness and hurt and sorrow and pain Don't you feel like you're a rider on a downbound train Been six years, I swear, since last time I used my brain

5. "My soul is lost, my friend..." Tell me how do I begin again Don't wanna break, but I gotta bend And the pain in my heart will never end My love and respect to you I must send

6. "You and me we were the pretenders, we let it all slip away..." All we built up in our lives together, we lost the last of it today In the end what you don't surrender, well the world just strips away And the clouds swept in and darkened what was left of a sunny day 18 years of nothing but hard work, will we ever have a chance to play?

7. "Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby edgy and dull..." And put me on the ground and made me crawl And cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my soul And took my life away piece by piece till I had nothing at all And turned me into a cow when I'd been born a bull

8. "You see all the romantic movies, you dream and take the boys home..." Wherever you go and whatever you do, your eyes always start to roam Then you treat 'em like dogs beggin' for a bone And take four for you and give two to your sister Joan But when the action fades you're left all alone

9. "If an officer stops you promise you'll always be polite..." That you'll never ever run away, promise Mama you'll keep your hands in sight Tell him you just finished working 12 hours and were headed home tonight Say "yessir officer, I know wrong from right" Stay loose and relaxed and don't act uptight

10. "This train carries saints and sinners..." Take a bumpy ride on it and jar your innards This train carries crazy yarn spinners This train carries losers and winners There's room on it for experts and beginners

11. "We stood at the alter, the gypsy swore our future was right..." And we were just beginning way back then, our future sunny and bright But come the wee wee hours well maybe baby the gypsy lied Thought our love would hold us together and we'd grow tighter than tight If I live to be 100, I'll never know went wrong that night

12. "Without you I'm workin' with the rain fallin' down..." Half a party in a one dog town Without you, I'll surely drown May as well be a silly clown Without you I'm deaf and can't hear a sound

13. "Go in the bathroom and put your makeup on..." We're gonna take that little brat of yours and drop her off at your mom's You're not an ugly ducklin', you're a beautiful swan And don't leave your purse on the back of the john Dance with me in the moonlight on your backyard lawn

14. "I'm Daniel waitin' in the lion's den, Daniel waitin' for that lion to come..." Daniel waitin'in the lion's den, dum dum dee dum dum dee dee dum dum Where'd I go wrong, Jill, how could I have been so dumb? Feelin' my spirits sag while my arms go numb Used to be a hero, girl, now I'm just gutter scum

15. "In '65 tension was running high at my high school..." The synchronized swimmers and the IM relay team both wanted to use the pool There was a lot of fights between the black and white, there was nothing you could do The popular girls would just play around, playin' guys like me for a fool Some call them the glory days, but for me it just felt cruel

16. "I got a brother on a rig just off the gulf coast..." Been workin' so long and hard that he looks like a ghost All day in the sun till he cooks like a roast Man he's just my everything, he's simply the most He says the girls down there, well they're really the most

17. "So I bought a .44 magnum it was solid steel cast..." And in the blessed name of Elvis well I just let it blast And for 72 hours, man I had me a blast And in just one instant my future became my past And a case of whiskey and got myself smashed

18. "I'm dying for some action, I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book..." Come answer my prayers baby, get my back up off this hook It's a killer case of writer's block... all the best rhymes are already took I need a love reaction, come on now baby gimme just one look Wish it was like ten years ago at the Stone Pony, man that place just really shook

19. "It ought to be easy ought to be simple enough, man meets woman and they fall in love..." Whoever told me that, man I'm callin' his bluff And they spend they're lives kissing like a coupla' doves Well that's just a big lie, that's some nasty stuff But the house is haunted and the ride gets rough

20. "Spirits above and behind me, faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright..." Images burned forever into my mind, never forgotten by day and by night Struck down in weakness for a coupla' days, and ever since then I've been finding my might The whole world upside down in my mind, but you bet I can tell what is wrong and what's right May their precious blood forever bind me Lord as I stand before your fiery light

21. "Now you were the Red Sea I was Moses..." I took off your shoes and kissed your little toeses I kissed you and slipped into a bed of roses We rubbed our noses like we was Eskimoses Your love prescription came in heavy doses

22. "At night I could hear the blood in my veins..." See the tears in my clothes and the holes and the stains Just as black and whispering as the rain As I wait and I wait for my love to explain And hear the far-off rumble of a fast-movin' train

23. "I got seven pictures of Buddha, the prophet's on my tongue..." The easy part lies behind me finished, the work on the hard part has only begun Standin half way up a ladder tryin' and reachin' for just one more rung Eleven angels of mercy sighin' over that black hole in the sun Hear Him in the words I've spoken, cryin' out in the songs that I've sung

24. "Now young faces grow sad and old and hearts of fire grow cold, we swore blood brothers against the wind..." Now I don't even know where I'd begin But that was then and this is now, hand me another gin But I'm tired now and so are you and there's nothing left to win I'm ready to grow young again

25. "House got too crowded, clothes got too tight..." Stay awake tossin' an' turnin' at night Everything I took for granted just no longer seems right And I don't know just where I'm going tonight Everything that I'm doin', I'm doing for spite