Joe Henry - Sake of the Song lyrics

[Verse 1] If you're nobody's business or you're front page news Folk, Rock, Country or Delta Blues Tell your truth however you choose And do it all for the sake of the song Yeah, hitchhike, and bus ride and rental cars Living rooms, coffee houses, rundown bars Ten thousand people or alone under the stars It's all for the sake of the song [Chorus 1] There's the man who wrote "Your Cheatin' Heart" Now he's lying through his tooth And he plays it on a stolen harp That's soaked in hundred proof And there's one who might be happy But for the writer's curse She lost the crowd's attention By the forty second verse [Verse 2] It's the travelling salesman, the girl next door On the empty room to the bird on the corner Less is less until more is more And it's all for the sake of the song [Chorus 2] And there's the young man on the marquee He's the son of some well-known And his father bought the tour bus So he could strike out on his own And there's the brooding contradiction Yeah, he's holding Van Gogh's ear And he's taped it to his guitar In the hope someone will hear [Verse 3] It's black berets and Nudie Suits The next big thing or getting back to your roots High-tops, flannels or duct tape boots And it's all for the sake of the song [Chorus 3] And there's the mystic, there's the legend There's the best that's ever been And there's the voice of a generation Who wants to pa** this way again And there's record deals and trained seals And puppets on a string And they're all just trying to figure out What makes the caged bird sing [Verse 4] It's lights, camera, on with the show Lifetime to get ready, now go cat go Where it all ends, nobody knows But it's all for the sake of the song [Outro] So if you're nobody's business or you're front page news Folk, Rock, Country or Delta Blues Tell your truth however you choose And do it all for the sake of the song