Well some people, they claim they never had a fair roll of the dice
They could be right
But that’s not me, see I was lucky and I had everything just fall in my plate
Call it fate if you want to
But for all the elaborate setup and manoeuvre
Being wheeled into position to deliver some saccharine punch to the guts
Of a world screaming out for whatever the hell they think it is that I’ve got

Every time I was given the chance to stand on my own two feet
Oh I fell
Yeah and every time I was given a chance to stand on my own two feet
Oh I fell yeah
Every time opportunity knocked on my door, I just sent it on straight down to hell
‘Cause every time I was given a chance to stand on my own two feet, I fell

Well some people, they imagine the disappointment must tear me apart
And break my heart
And presume that I’m disgusted by all the injustice I’ve seen
But that’s not me and I’ll tell you
That I bear no resentment to millionaire pub singers
Barely literate poets and guitar store gunslingers
And I smile so politely at the well-meaning ignorance
Of people who tell me I’m going to make it some day

Every time I was given the chance to stand on my own two feet
Oh I fell
Yeah and every time I was given a chance to stand on my own two feet
Oh I fell yeah
Every time opportunity knocked on my door, I just sent it on straight down to hell
‘Cause every time I was given a chance to stand on my own two feet, I fell

Well the sun’s going down on what’s left of today
And the tide drags what’s left of this moment away
And so I kick through the dirt and the red autumn leaves
And what I had and what I lost and what I still believe
And I have no regrets for the time that I’ve spent
Barely paying my dues and barely paying the rent
For a simple pursuit of more honest a life
I don’t cheat on my taxes, I don’t cheat on my wife
Now the fire’s burning out and the walls closing in
And I’m dragged by the gravity into the sin
Of obedient service of some twisted machine
Blowing smoke in the faces of each little scene
Sent to form a distraction just to buy up some time
Misdirected by swagger and beats and by rhyme
Telling tales of a life you might one day attain
If you just keep your focus relentlessly trained
On the things you can get and not who you can be
Nor the innocent dream of the sky and the sea
And the word and the truth and the spirit of man
And a history that promises one day we can
With a love for your brother and your sister and yourself
Get there one day together in good cheer and good health
But it comes at a cost, yeah there’s a price that you pay
For a sweet, bold tomorrow you’ve got to give up today
It’s a sacrifice way beyond mortals like me
For an age that never was and never could ever be
So I don’t dwell on the past, I don’t rue my mistakes
And I’m proud that I never had whatever it takes
Now I’m stood on the deck of this leaky old boat
With just the shirt on my back and the song in my throat
And I’m the luckiest boy on the face of the earth
‘Cause I know about love and I know what it’s worth
So I’m not giving up and I’m not giving in
Though I know it’s a fight that I’m not going to win
And I’ll still scream in the face of more powerful men
I choose this motherfucker and I’d choose it again

‘Cause every time I was given the chance to stand on my own two feet
Oh I fell
Yeah and every time I was given a chance to stand on my own two feet
Oh I fell yeah
Every time opportunity knocked on my door, I just sent it on straight down to hell
‘Cause every time I was given a chance to stand on my own two feet,
I fell