Best That I Could lyrics

Written by John Mellencamp

Well our hearts beat like thunder
I don't know why they don't explode
You got your hands in my back pockets
And Sam Cooke's singin' on the radio
You say that I'm the boy who can make it all come true
Well I'm tellinya that I don't know if I know what to do

Chorus:
You say that's all right, hold tight
Well I don't even know if I'm doin' this right

They like to get you in a compromising position
They like to get you there and smile in your face
They think, they're so cute when they got you in that condition
Well I think, it's a total disgrace

CHORUS:
I fight authority, authority always wins
I fight authority, authority always wins
I been doing it, since I was a young kid
I've come out grinnin'

Written by: John Mellencamp

A million young poets
Screamin' out their words
To a world full of people
Just livin' to be heard
Future generations
Ridin' on the highways that we built
I hope they have a better understanding

Check it out
Goin' to work on Monday
Check it out
Got yourself a family
Check it out
All utility bills have been paid
You can't tell your best buddy that you love him

A million young poets
Screamin' out their words
To a world full of people
Just livin' to be heard
Future generations
Ridin' on the highways that we built
I hope they have a better understanding

Check it out
Goin' to work on Monday
Check it out
Got yourself a family
Check it out
All utility bills have been paid
You can't tell your best buddy that you love him
So check it out

Well I lived on the outskirts of town
In an eight room farmhouse, baby
When my brothers and friends were around
There was always somethin' doin'
Had me a couple of real nice girlfriends
Stopped by to see me every once in a while
When I think back about those days
All I can do is sit and smile

That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything

Some people ain't no damn good
You can't trust 'em you can't love 'em
No good deed goes unpunished
And I don't mind bein' their whippin' boy
I've had that pleasure for years and years
No no I never was a sinner--tell me what else can I do
Second best is what you get 'til you learn to bend the rules
And time respects no person--what you lift up must fall

Written by John Mellencamp

*I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
I need a lover that won't drive me crazy
Some girl that knows the meaning of a
Hey hit the highway

Well I've been walkin' the streets up and down
Racing through the human jungles at night
I'm so confused, my mind is indifferent
Hey I'm so weak, won't somebody shut off that light

Written by: John Mellencamp

She calls me up and says baby it's a lonely ol' night
I don't know I'm just so scared and lonely all at the same time
Nobody told us it was gonna work out this way No, no, no, no, no
I guess they knew we'd work it out in our own way

Chorus
It's a lonely ol' night
Can I put my arms around you
It's a lonely ol' night
Custom made for two lonely people like me and you

Written by: John Mellencamp

She had a dream
And boy it was a good one
So she chased after her dream
With much desire
But when she got too close
To her expectations
Well the dream burned up
Like paper in fire

Chorus
Paper in fire
Stinkin' up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smokin' up the alleyways
Who's to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

Written by: John Mellencamp

There's a black man with a black cat livin' in a black neighborhood
He's got an interstate runnin' through his front yard
You know he thinks that he's got it so good
And there's a woman in the kitchen cleanin' up the evenin' slop
And he looks at her and says, Hey darlin', I can remember when
you could stop a clock.

CHORUS:
Oh but ain't that America for you and me

Written by: John Mellencamp

They come from the cities
And they come from the smaller towns
Beat up cars with guitars and drummers
Goin crack boom bam

Chorus
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., Yeah, Yeah!
Rockin' in the U.S.A.

Said goodbye to their families
Said goodbye to their friends
With pipe dreams in their heads
And very little money in their hands

Written by: John Mellencamp

Well I was born in a small town
And I live in a small town
Prob'ly die in a small town
Oh, those small communities

All my friends are so small town
My parents live in the same small town
My job is so small town
Provides little opportunity

Educated in a small town
Taught the fear of Jesus in a small town
Used to daydream in that small town

Written by: Terry Reid 1968

Have you ever ridden horses through a rainstorm?
Or a lion through a busy street bazarre?
There are many things I'd love to turn you on to
But somehow I feel they're safer where they are

Yes, there's a man I know
With no expression
He's got none at all
Yes, there's a man that I know
With no expression, darling
He's got none at all