Way back when,
In the old days,
When I was tramping,
'Cross the U. S. A,
I was a stoaway,
On a runaway train,
And there I met a man,
With a wooden cain,
A ragged shirt,
A pair of wornout shoes,
A dusty hat,
And grey hair,
We both happened,
To be headin',
Down to New Orleans,
He had a guitar,
Right beside him,
Tucked away,
In it's case,
He took it out,
And right there and then,
He began to play,
He sang about love,
And life and time,
And how they swiftly eat away,
At the flower of youth,
He said time,
Was unforgiving,
It gives no man,,
No quarter no treuce,
But, C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
Well, we got off,
In Memphis, Tennessee,
And walked all the way down,
To Beale Street,
And like the drifter he was,
A tramping bard,
Around his chest,
He strapped his guitar,
He started to play,
And the people walking by,
Would stop and gather 'round,
And pennies and nickels they 'd all lay down,
When he finished it must have been,
'Bout 9 o'clock,
We was headed,
Down to the docks,
I said man,
Don't you ever tire,
Of playing on street corners,
For nickels and dimes,
He said son,
I don't play for no one,
See, like the bee,
Is driven to make honey just to make honey,
So am I,
Driven to play,
To sing, to walk,
Until the day I die,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
After days of sailing down,
The Mississippi,
And playin' the towns,
Of Baton Rouge and Donaldsville,
That dark, soulful stream,
Finnally got us down to New Orleans,
Where some time ago,
I lost my baby,
Into those very waters,
She sank,
When the rain was heavy,
And the levees broke,
And the seas spoke,
So loud you could hear it out on the river banks,
I said I ain't never,
Gonna be the same,
Neither will the city,
That care forgot,
He looked to me,
For a while,
Didn't say nothin',
No, he just smiled,
Then he turned his face,
Towards the moon,
His hands made love to his guitar,
And he let out a croon,
Then he said,
When you've lost your heart,
You ain't got nothing left to lose,
You realize how everything else,
Just ain't no use,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
Well, he said all you can really do,
Is live today,
Oh, yeah, live today,
So you can die tomorrow,
Now my friend,
The time has come,
For me to bid you,
Adieu,
He walked away,
And got lost,
In the live streets,
Of The Big Easy,
I stood there for some time,
Like a child,
Naked in the dark,
Thinkin' all the while,
In New Orleans,
My soul was torn,
But goin' anywhere else,
I've tried that I just don't belong,
New Orleans is my home,
New Orleans is my home,
I'm a New Orleans man,
Down to the bone
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
ARealRock'N'Rolla
In the old days,
When I was tramping,
'Cross the U. S. A,
I was a stoaway,
On a runaway train,
And there I met a man,
With a wooden cain,
A ragged shirt,
A pair of wornout shoes,
A dusty hat,
And grey hair,
We both happened,
To be headin',
Down to New Orleans,
He had a guitar,
Right beside him,
Tucked away,
In it's case,
He took it out,
And right there and then,
He began to play,
He sang about love,
And life and time,
And how they swiftly eat away,
At the flower of youth,
He said time,
Was unforgiving,
It gives no man,,
No quarter no treuce,
But, C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
Well, we got off,
In Memphis, Tennessee,
And walked all the way down,
To Beale Street,
And like the drifter he was,
A tramping bard,
Around his chest,
He strapped his guitar,
He started to play,
And the people walking by,
Would stop and gather 'round,
And pennies and nickels they 'd all lay down,
When he finished it must have been,
'Bout 9 o'clock,
We was headed,
Down to the docks,
I said man,
Don't you ever tire,
Of playing on street corners,
For nickels and dimes,
He said son,
I don't play for no one,
See, like the bee,
Is driven to make honey just to make honey,
So am I,
Driven to play,
To sing, to walk,
Until the day I die,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
After days of sailing down,
The Mississippi,
And playin' the towns,
Of Baton Rouge and Donaldsville,
That dark, soulful stream,
Finnally got us down to New Orleans,
Where some time ago,
I lost my baby,
Into those very waters,
She sank,
When the rain was heavy,
And the levees broke,
And the seas spoke,
So loud you could hear it out on the river banks,
I said I ain't never,
Gonna be the same,
Neither will the city,
That care forgot,
He looked to me,
For a while,
Didn't say nothin',
No, he just smiled,
Then he turned his face,
Towards the moon,
His hands made love to his guitar,
And he let out a croon,
Then he said,
When you've lost your heart,
You ain't got nothing left to lose,
You realize how everything else,
Just ain't no use,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
Well, he said all you can really do,
Is live today,
Oh, yeah, live today,
So you can die tomorrow,
Now my friend,
The time has come,
For me to bid you,
Adieu,
He walked away,
And got lost,
In the live streets,
Of The Big Easy,
I stood there for some time,
Like a child,
Naked in the dark,
Thinkin' all the while,
In New Orleans,
My soul was torn,
But goin' anywhere else,
I've tried that I just don't belong,
New Orleans is my home,
New Orleans is my home,
I'm a New Orleans man,
Down to the bone
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie,
ARealRock'N'Rolla
