Verse 1)Gray stone walls and a sky of slateIron doors and a hand of fateCaught in a trap for a crime not doneCounting the years from the rising sunMansfield prison is a heavy loadEnd of the line on a bitter roadBut a quiet man with a brilliant mindLeft the world and its lies behind.(Chorus)Get busy living, or get busy dyingAin’t no use in a broken heart cryingFear keeps you prisoner, hope sets you freeBeyond the walls and the dark rolling seaKeep on digging through the dirt and the stoneYou’re never completely alone.(Verse 2)Rita Hayworth on the poster wallHiding the cracks where the shadows fallA little rock hammer in a Bible tuckedWhile the warden counts the funds he’s duckedRed’s got a way to get what you needA pack of smokes or a peaceful seedDrinking cold beer on a tar-black roofFor a moment in time, they were bulletproof.(Chorus)Get busy living, or get busy dyingAin’t no use in a broken heart cryingFear keeps you prisoner, hope sets you freeBeyond the walls and the dark rolling seaKeep on digging through the dirt and the stoneYou’re never completely alone.(Bridge)Five hundred yards of foulness and grimeCrawl through the filth to outrun your timeUnder the lightning, out in the rainWash away the years and wash away the painThe suit is empty, the ledger is clearNothing but freedom lives here.(Verse 3)An old oak tree in a Buxton fieldA promise made and a fate unsealedA letter waiting in a volcanic stoneTelling a brother he’s not alonePacific blue where the waters gleamNo more walls, just an open dreamTwo old friends on a sandy shoreThey don’t look back anymore.(Outro)Zihuatanejo, the tide comes inWhere the world ends, the stories beginHope is a good thing, the best of its kindAnd a good thing never dies.Just keep on living.Never look back.Get busy living.
