I Guess I'll Have to Learn to Fly Lyrics

When i take the stage
and wail the blues
long and hard for my lost baby
nobody out there knows
or even cares about my troubles or why i sing
or why i look so sad

i got involved with a fast city woman
as mama would say "she saw me a-commin'"
for every nickel she spent on me
for every every dime she spent on me
she took a dollar in return

i poured out my feelings and didn't mince any words
which she never tired of hearing -oh, you know, she urged,
she led me to the point of blindness
on to sorrow, on to the edge of my doom

i forgot my raising and stopped going to church
started stealing and lying and doing other things worse
just to prove to that woman that i could
and i would, be her man

oh how i could be so foolish
and what's even worse, i forgot the season
God, am i cursed?
We were to be married Sunday in a small country church

then i wrote a letter to my hometown girl
but she'll marry another, i think his name was Earl
i'm gonna shake myself just like the old hound dog
move on up the road and get lost in a fog

i've been working for a year and a day
and all i have to show is a hi-fi that won't play
i lost my new Mustang, pawned my last pair of shoes
and don't have fifty cents to pay up the dues

then i ran away far and tried hard to die,
but all i could do was sit down and cry
Life on earth for me is over
so i guess i'll just have to learn to fly