Lynyrd Skynyrd

(j. van zant, e. king, r. johnson, m. lunn)

I used to live in a poor neighborhood
My friends and me we always had a time
Never had no money but we had it so good
Those days are gone and i wanna go back
So pure so simple
Never thought about it when you're young you don't care
You don't realize it 'till it's all behind
Take it for granted just not well

(chorus)
Oh-oh it was pure and simple
I'll remember those days 'till the end
Oh-oh god knows it's simple
If i could live my life all over again
I'd keep it pure and simple

Those days are gone and i wanna go back
Got me a feelin' i'm not alone
Wish i had a road so i could go back home

(repeat chorus twice)

(r. hall, e. king, g. rossington)

I snuck around the corner he had this guy down
I through the first punch that's when he hit the ground
To survive in the street you gotta win the first round
'cause if you want eat you gotta be the baddest one around
I'm a backstreet crawler

Daddy paid for college i earned a degree
Got a job up on wall street
Where i learned to make the little man bleed
That's when i got stomped like a cattle stampede
Had a nervous breakdown all my friends and family left me

(chorus)
Yeah i'm a backstreet crawler
When you see them on the concrete it's their spirit that's harder
Yeah i'm a backstreet crawler
Where your ego meets defeat and your pride can't get no smaller
Yeah i'm a backstreet crawler
Yeah i'm a backstreet crawler

I guess you might say it sure is a shame
I used to have everything oh how my life has changed
Yeah i'm broken and torn i've never been free
Lost everything that meant a thing to me

(repeat chorus)

(g. rossington, j. van zant, k. custer, r. johnson, m. lunn)

You got to lock your doors, keep the world out
We're closin' ourselves in
If you watch the news it'll scare you to death
To hell and back again
The only justice here's at the wrong end of a gun
Got the criminal makin' the laws got the good men on the run
I've seen enough

We don't own anything we've got we've givin' it all away
But that don't make no sense to me you know who's gonna pay
It's the man in the factory workin' twelve hours a day
The woman workin' in the restaurant with another kid on the way

(chorus)
Isn't anything in this life sacred anymore
We can't lose what we've got it's worth fightin' for
I've seen enough, i've seen enough to make a grown man cry

A man's standin' by the road a sign in his hand
He don't want your charity he says i ain't no begger man
All i need is a chance to get back on my feet
But we just pass him by well it could be you or me
I've seen enough
I ain't the kind to just sit back and watch the world go 'round
It's not too late to change let's turn this shit around

(repeat chorus)

(g. rossington, j.& d. van zant, e. king)

There's a rumour goin' 'round on the backside of town
Jake is out to get some revenge
Has fire in his eyes since his brother died
Shot down by a so-called friend

For a fifty dollar gram is what the neighbors say
Drugs had control of his life
Caught up on crack you're tryin' to think back
The devil had him hooked you could see it in his eyes
It's a killer

There's a cold house at the corner of the street
The kids come and go there at night
Jerry drove up in front of the house
Somebody pulled out a knife
Jerry freaked out and went for his gun
Shot him right between the eyes
All he ever wanted was a twenty dollar high
But now he's locked up for the rest of his life

(chorus)
It's a killer there's no way out baby once your in
It's a killer steal from your family
Then you'll turn on your friends
It's a killer it can happen to you

So don't you never, never give in
It's a killer

The neighborhood i used to call home
These days it's lookin' like a war zone
Unemployment on the rise but the black market thrives
Money just keeps changin' hands
The laws are gettin' tough sometimes it's not enough
To satisfy supply and demand

Trouble breaks out there's fightin' in the streets
Bullets flyin' all around
An innocent child caught in the line of fire
All because there weren't enough drugs to go around

(repeat chorus)

(repeat chorus)

(e. king, j. van zant, gary rossington, t. cerney)

I was sittin' at home all alone when i heard that telephone ring
And there on the line was a friend of mine sayin' he wasn't doin' a thing
So i'm steppin' out on the town tonight to party where the drinks are free
There's a sweet young thing ready and waitin' on me

(chorus)
Young and fine, strike you blind
Smokestack lightnin' make you lose your mind
She's got looks that kill can fire at will
Smokestack lightnin' she's all i need

When we got to the place i got me a taste
I knew she'd be good for a game
Dancin' out on the floor she was ready for more
She knew all the boys by their names
I said hey sweet thing let me pull your string
Let me take you home
I woke up in a hour with my money and my memory gone.

(repeat chorus)

Young and fine strike you blind smokestack lightnin'

(repeat chorus)

(t. cerney, e. king, g. rossington, j. van zant)

It was a late night show in georgia
We were on the 'ol highway
We know we've lost some friends
And family on the way
But you know we all feel better
And it makes it worth our time
To know our bus is rollin' towards
That mason-dixon line

(chorus)

Oh we can't seem to find the end of the road
Roots never grow on the seeds that we sow
We've still got our music and so many miles to go
You know we can't seem to find the end of the road

We know we've got a legacy that's hard to live up to
But there's still a lot of reasons
Why we play these songs for you
It's a family tradition and as long as we're around
That freebird keeps on flyin' and it never will come down

(repeat chorus)

Oh we can't seem to find the end of the road
Roots never grow on the seeds that we sow
We can't seem to find the end of the road
No matter how far we travel it always seems to slow
We still got our music and so many miles to go
You know we can't seem to find lord the end of the road
The end of the road