No Choice In The Matter

(album: Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - 2009)

We'll say a friend of mine, a fella I know real well,
came to me on Friday and he had a story to tell
I've heard it a thousand times, but this one hits close to home
The woman who left him I've taken for my own

Love leaves you no choice in the matter
and there ain't a damn thing sadder than a man
in the throes of something real
The woman that lays down beside you,
she can't help or hide you
It don't matter how she wants to feel

So I bought him a round or two and gave him a talking to
I said, "Boy, you can't let yourself get so far"
But you can't tell a man a thing when he's picking out diamond rings
and you yourself don't know who you are

Love leaves you no choice in the matter
and there ain't a damn thing sadder than a man
in the throes of something real
The woman that lays down beside you,
she can't help or hide you
It don't matter how she wants to feel

My hands, they used to be a young man's hands
but I worked 'em to the bone
When'd she even find the time to get to know another man?
"Leave me alone," he said, "leave me alone"

Love leaves you no choice in the matter
and there ain't a damn thing sadder than a man
in the throes of something real
The woman that lays down beside you,
she can't help or hide you
It don't matter how she wants to feel