To Beat The Devil

(Kris Kristofferson)



It was winter time in Nashville down on Music Row

And I was lookin' for a place to get myself out of the cold

To warm the frozen feelin' that was eatin' at my soul

Keep the chilly wind off me and my guitar.



My thirsty wanted whiskey my hungry needed beans

But it had been a month of payday since I'd heard that eagle scream

So with a stomach full of empty and a pocket full of dreams

I left my pride and stepped inside a bar.



Actually I guess you'd call it a tavern

Cigarette smoke to the ceiling sawdust on the floor friendly shadows

I saw that there was just an old man sittin' at the bar

And in the mirror I could see him checkin' me and my guitar.



And he turned and he said come up here boy and show us which you are

I said I'm dry he bought me a beer

He nodded at my guitar and said it's a tough life ain't it

I just looked at him and he said you ain't makin' any money are you

I said you been readin' my mail.



He just smiled and said let me see that guitar

I got something you oughta hear then he laid it on me

If you waste your time a talkin' to the people who don't listen

To the things that you are saying who do you thinks gonna hear.



And if you should die explaining how the thing that they complain about

Or the things they could be changing who do you thinks gonna care

There were other lonely singers and they would turned deaf and blind

Who were crucified for what they tried to show

And their voices have been scattered by the swirling winds of time

'Cause the truth remains that no one wants to know.



Well, the old man was a stranger but I'd've heard his song before

Back when failure had me locked out on the wrong side of the door

When no one stood behind me but my shadow on the floor

And lonesome was more than a state of mind.



You see the devil haunts a hungry man

If you don't wanna join him you gotta beat him

I ain't sayin' I beat the devil but I drank his beer for nothin'

Then I stole his song.



And you still can hear me singin' to the people who don't listen

To the things that I am sayin' prayin' someone's gonna hear

And I guess I'll die explaining how the things that they complain about

Are things they could be changing hoping someone's gonna care.



I was born a lonely singer and I'm bound to die the same

But I've gotta feed the hunger in my soul

And if I never have a nickel I won't even die in shame

Cause I don't believe that no one wants to know...