The Pilgrim, Chapter 33

(album: The Austin Sessions - 1999)

See him wasted on the sidewalk, in his jacket and his jeans
Wearing yesterday's misfortunes like a smile
Once he had a future, full of money love and dreams
Which he spent like they was going out o' style

And he keeps right on a'changing, for the better or the worse
Searching for a shrine he's never found
Never knowing if believing, is a blessing or a curse
Or if the going up was worth, the coming down

He's a poet, an' he's a picker, he's a prophet, an' he's a pusher
He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned
He's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction
Taking ev'ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home

He has tasted good and evil, in your bedrooms and your bars
And he's traded in tomorrow for today
Running from his devils Lord, and reaching for the stars
And losing all he loved, along the way

But if this world keeps right on turning, for the better or the worse
And all he ever gets is older and around
From the rocking of the cradle, to the rolling of the hearse
The going up was worth, the coming down

He's a poet, an' he's a picker, he's a prophet, an' he's a pusher
He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned
He's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction
Taking ev'ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home

There's a lot of wrong directions, on that lonely way back home