The Gift Lyrics - Jerry Jeff Walker

Jerry Jeff Walker 

In a boarding house, I'd lay upstairs, 

And dream of how I'd live someday 

Downstairs there sat, a man who had 

A guitar he never learned to play 

For my thirteenth birthday, grandma bought the guitar 

Told me I should learn how to play 

And the gift she gave me changed me 

'Cause the music is the main thing, 

That got me to this point here today 

Chorus: 

And I was lucky, 'cause I used her gift 

To get in touch with how to live 

And looking back I now realize, music changed my life 

Just out of school, I had no clue 

Of what it was I'd like to do 

I only know, the open road 

Was the way I chose to pass on through 

I took that guitar with me, down the lonesome highway 

And I began my search for a song 

And somewhere in the distance, the music and the mystery 

Of how I would live come along 

Chorus (Last line different) 

That music saved my life, music became my life 

As time went by, I found that I 

Could climb up on the stage and sing 

But when I sang, the songs I wrote 

It became a very special thing 

But songs to me were personal 

And the business side just killed me 

And I withdrew inside my shell 

With the contracts and the lawsuits 

I started heavy drinking, 

'Til I finally lost touch with myself 

Bridge: 

I guess playing music for money brought problems 

That I didn't face very well 

Being self-taught gave me nothing to lean on 

I had to look in myself 

I took a year off and did some fasting 

Just to clean the cobwebs out 

And I went back to Grandma's guitar 

Just to hear a simple sound 

When I look around me, I saw my loving family 

And a home we had built on a hill 

I discovered the music had led me to the one place 

Where my heart and soul are re-filled 

Chorus: 

Music saved my life, yeah, music really saved my life 

Yes, music really saved my life