Carpenter Mary Chapin - A Lot Like Me lyrics

He was a long, tall stranger from way down south Where he'd left his life behind He had a big, old Gibson and a pickup truck And Shenandoah eyes And I remember him sitting in that local bar Where I earned my pay each night Singing my songs to empty chairs and going home half tight So the nights rolled by like headlights shining on a lonesome strip of tar I kept his word of kindness close to me like a pick on my guitar And we talked about the singers and the songs we loved And the songs we'd most forgot In that run-down bar they'd make last call And I'd never want to stop [Chorus] 'Cause I was living on nothing but a young girl's dreams With my cowboy boots and my old six-string Hitching my wagon to a star Dreaming of leaving those local bars When I'd get him up at closing time For a couple of songs and a chance to shine Like the star that he longed to be He looked a hell of a lot like me Well, he'd played a lot of places where the only wages were food and beer for free No fancy licks, but he had him a gift for the kinds of songs he'd sing But you do what you can to be a satisfied man Just to have your peace of mind So he gave it all up for a government job where the paychecks come on time So now he comes to the bar to hear me play guitar And to share a drink or two And we sit swapping tales of where we've been and what we'd rather do There's a wealth of dangers when you're talking to strangers And I meet them all the time But my heart knew better than my head when I looked into those eyes [Chorus] Well, maybe I'll quit when I've got me a kid and a place to call my own But tonight there ain't nobody there waiting up for me at home It's a helluva way to live from day to day Not knowing where you're bound But the look in his eyes made me realize I was glad for the life I'd found [Chorus]