Lyrics to
To Beat The Devil

This version of To Beat The Devil was released by Waylon Jennings in 1972.

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It was winter time in Nashville
Down on Music City Row
I was lookin’ for a place to get
Myself out of the cold
To warm the frozen feelin’
That was eatin’ at my soul
And keep the chilly winds off my guitar.

My thirsty wanted whiskey
And my hunger needed beans
But I guess it’d been a month of payday
Since I heard that eagle scream
So with a stomach full of empty
And a pocket full of dreams
I left my pride and stepped inside a bar
Actually I guess you’d call it a tavern
Cigarette smoke to the ceiling
Sawdust on the floor friendly shadows.

I saw that there was just
An old man sittin’ at the bar
In the mirror I could see him
Checkin’ me and my guitar
He said come up here boy
Show us what you are
I said I’m dry, he bought me a beer
He nodded at my guitar.

Said it’s a tough life ain’t it
I just looked at him
And he said you ain’t
Makin’ any money are you
I said you been readin’ my mail
He just smiled and said let me see that guitar
I got somethin’ you oughta hear
Then he laid it on me.

If you waste your time a talkin’
To the people who don’t listen
To the things that you are sayin’
Who do you thinks gonna hear
And if you should die explainin’
How the thing they complain about
Or the things they could be changing
Who do you thinks gonna care.

There were lots of other singers
In the world turned deaf and blind
Who were crucified for what they tried to show
Now their voices have been scattered
By the swirling winds of time
And the truth remains that no one wants to know.

Well, the old man was a stranger
But I’d’ve heard his song before
Back when failure had me locked out
On the wrong side of the door
No one stood behind me but my shadow on the floor
And lonesome was more than a state of mind

You see the devil haunts a hungry man
And if you don’t wanna join him
Well, he’s gotta figure out someway to beat him
And I ain’t sayin’ I beat the devil
But I drink his beer for nothin’
And then I stole his song

You can still hear me singin’
To the people who don’t listen
To the things that I am sayin’
Prayin’ someone’s gonna hear
And I guess I’ll die explaining
How the things that they complain about
Are things they could be changin’
Hopin’ someone’s gonna care.

I was born to be a singer
And I’m bound to die the same
But I’ve got to feed this hunger in my soul
If I never have a nickel
I won’t even die in shame
‘Cause I don’t believe that no one wants to know…

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Waylon Jennings has released many songs over the years besides To Beat The Devil. Waylon Jennings released songs from 1964 to 1972 spanning across albums like JD's, Leavin' Town, Folk-Country, Nashville Rebel, Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan, The One And Only, Love Of The Common People, Only The Greatest, Jewels, Hangin' On, Just To Satisfy You, Country-Folk, Waylon, Singer Of Sad Songs, Don't Think Twice, The Taker/Tulsa, Cedartown, Georgia, and Good Hearted Woman. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Waylon Jennings.

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About Lyrics and To Beat The Devil by Waylon Jennings

The lyrics to To Beat The Devil are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Waylon Jennings used when the song was created in 1972. The lyrics to To Beat The Devil have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Waylon Jennings and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to To Beat The Devil by Waylon Jennings. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to To Beat The Devil" means the words set to the music of To Beat The Devil, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Waylon Jennings. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to To Beat The Devil and the lyrics to To Beat The Devil are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Waylon Jennings who came here looking just for the lyrics to To Beat The Devil, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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