There ain't no words of wisdom, that done me any good My ears wouldn't hear the warning call I couldn't understand the way others poorly regarded me Or why they even said anything at all Life was meant for takin, or so I had thought before Late nights and whiskey dreams I never stopped to ponder, where all this was leading me Slowly unravelling at the seams Time can be a teacher, for those who're hard to learn Sands keep pourin' right along A man can only take so much of livin' wicked ways And ignorin' what's right and wrong Prison bars and trouble-seeking's all I really know Been lost to the world around Still, sometimes those words come back to roost Both mysterious and profound Wise words Mean so much more to me now There's a yearning in me I can't describe But those wise words I remember here and there Help me understand what's goin' on inside Been locked up for takin' what wasn't mine to take Took other men's wives' to bed Sold white powders to those who had nothing left Eyes starin' like the livin' dead Never saw the cliff approaching, until it was too late Falling, into the abyss I tried to break the system, a mistake to be for sure No answer for any of this My life became a lesson, for other people to heed Though I never learned I should've known I'd be left to my own damned fate Another bridge now burned Now with five decades gone, I try to make it make sense How I'm still around today It's when I sit and think on it all, from the dim dark past I realize I've wise words to say Wise words Mean so much more to me now There's a yearning in me I can't describe But those wise words I remember here and there Help me understand what's goin' on inside Those wise words, with me they abide.
