What You Answer To
By John McGee
Copyright 2009


I been beat like a yard dog
Been raised up on high
I’ve crawled through the gutter
I’ve soared through the sky
I been a thief and a beggar
Been a king and a saint
Well I do when I can
And I don’t when I cain’t
After everything’s said
and you know this is true
It ain’t what they call you
It’s what’cha answer to.

I’ve sung with the angels
I’ve howled with the dogs
I’ve slept in great mansions
I’ve wallowed with hogs
Been up on the mountain
Been down in a hole
Been given great gifts
And I been bought and sold
And what I do next
is all mine to choose
It ain’t what they call you
It’s what’cha answer to

Chorus
Alone in the silence
Do you know who you are?
Do you ache from the effort?
Are you covered in scars?
You got to square up your shoulders
And plant your feet wide
Show ‘em spring steel and whale bone
When they look in your eye


There’s always more riddles
than answers for me
I been staggered by insight
Been too blind to see
I been lost out at midnight
Been found at first light
I probably won’t
But you know I just might
I don’t understand
but just one thing or two
It ain’t what they call you
It’s what’cha answer to

I been dumb as a fence post
Been brilliant and wise
I been proud and haughty
I been cut down to size
I been burned in the desert
Been drenched in the rain
Been washed in the blood
I been wretched and stained
You can bend in the wind
or let it break you
It ain’t what they call you
It’s what’cha answer to

Chorus

Ambrosia and nectar
Or ash on my tongue
Anthems and arias
And blues I have sung
There’s a deafening silence
There’s a song in the air
I got more than I need
I got nothing to spare
The curtain is rising
The fanfare’s for you
It’s ain’t what they call you
It’s wha