I shook my head as he walked up, thought he wanted a couple bucksWith those ragged clothes and hair down to his shouldersBut he said, I bet you ain't even thirty yetYou hang your head like your life is almost overI said, old man, leave me alone, I just got laid offBesides, when's the last time you even had a job?He said, it was sixty-eight, I was about your ageIn a chopper over HanoiWe got shot down and even nowIt's hard to sleep at nightAnd after five long years in a bamboo cageThe army comes backHe calls you crazy, takes your wings awayI know where you're coming fromI've been there and then someI said, old man, I'll give you thatI never had it quite so badAnd losing this job ain't all that there is to itThree weeks ago my wife moved outI'd just gotten homeBeen out of townYou don't know what that's likeTill you've been through itCan you imagine how it feelsTo hear she'd found someoneThen I asked himWhen's the last time you lost a love?He said, when that C-130 touched the earthOn a runway out and overI was coming home, had my medals onShe wasn't in the carShe wasn't in the crowdCause when you're M.I.A. two thousand daysShe thinks you're deadAnd your best friend takes your placeI know where you're coming fromI've been there and then someThat old man made me realizeYou never give up hopeAnd he got there in the nick of timeWith the stories that he toldAnd he saved my lifeI was gonna end it all that nightIt's been three years, that's why I'm hereI don't get paid, I'm a volunteerLiving proof you can get your life togetherSo don't hang up the phoneIt ain't worth it someIt was both a favorPut down that gunI know where you're coming fromI've been there and then someI've been there and then some