No Prizes

(album: The Line Is A Curve - 2022)

No prizes
Take your shot for the love of the game
I used to make plans, now I make decisions
I'd always admired his nerve
As sure as the crown on his shirt
One hand in his waistband he tells me to serve
Credit ratings, savings, loans
Down-payments towards his investments
What can I tell you? He says
When you have kids it kind of shifts your perspectives
If I could do it all again, no question
I could list ten things right now that I should have done different
But where does that get me? He blows out his smoke
The game's not done yet, he zips up his coat
We stand at the lights before crossing the road
He says, as long as there's life, there's still so far to go

I just wanna keep climbing
And I don't know why I don't mind, don't mind
I just wanna keep climbing, climbing
And I don't know why I don't mind, don't mind

She's got her hat pulled down, full camo suit
Sitting on the bass amp, strapping a zoot
I'm telling you, it's mad
I read one interview with this soldier in Iran
It's a government cover-up
She's looking for the lighter but the lighter's in her hand
I'm just really trying to make a couple grand
She plays with the chain round her neck, nods deeply
Not even in this music thing, it's beneath me
I start my own company, run my own business
Print my own money, I serve my own interests
I'm telling you, knowledge is key, all my life
People took my ideas and made their names off of me
But trust this
The more I look, the more I see
There's so much more I'm going to be

I just wanna keep climbing
And I don't know why I don't mind, don't mind
I just wanna keep climbing, climbing
And I don't know why I don't mind, don't mind

They've seen nothing but dead ends
And blockages and stopped clocks
Misread prophecies, and misheard promises
They've got to keep three jobs ticking, they can't get a minute
But they won't be defeated, they've got to live
What are your dreams when they become ghosts in your ears
Telling you things you just don't want to hear?
Like, you're too late, you missed your chance
The last thing they want is to be bitter
Like they knew a few to be when they were younger
And they swore, never me, never that
But the time that's behind them, they can't get it back
I used to be joyful, they tell me
A real free-spirit, I thought music would protect me
I used to sing in all these bars and I used to busk
But never caught a break, my lucky day never showed up
I never made it to the lights
And now it's like my best days have gone by
And I am scared that it's all too late
Is it all too late?
They walk fast and I can't keep pace
They turn back, I watch the past cross their face and they say
If there's still time on the clock, there's still choices to make

I just wanna keep climbing, climbing
And I don't know why I don't mind, don't mind
I just wanna keep climbing, climbing
And I don't know why I don't mind, don't mind
I just wanna keep climbing, climbing
And I don't know why I don't mind