You can't sneak your way up the ladder
Have it handed to you on a silver platter
It don't depend on who or what you know
It won't rub off of some movie star
You gotta bang it out on a cheap guitar
It doesn't matter what you drive
It's how you go

If I'm gonna play. I'm gonna play loud
Pour the midnight oil, let it all burn out
If I'm gonna love, I'm gonna love big
I wasn't born to hold nothin' back from you
And that's the way it is
I don't want life watered-down
I want to drink it strong
Until it's gone, until it's gone

Well, nobody here sent for you, son
There's a million roads but you just get one
Treat every quarter inch like a hundred yards
Better swing your groove
Like you swing your hammer
Sing like cash did in the slammer
You can't go half at it, ya got to nail it hard

If I'm gonna play. I'm gonna play loud
Pour the midnight oil, let it all burn out
If I'm gonna love, I'm gonna love big
I wasn't born to hold nothin' back from you
And that's the way it is
I don't want life watered-down
I want to drink it strong
Until it's gone, until it's gone