A friend named Charlie told me a story one day as we were talking over a beer How he'd sit as kid at the stadium from outside the fence he would cheer The price of a ticket was too much to bear Besides, you could see the game from out there And now you're back and you can't help but to pretend Back to where you started once again He'd done many a hard job and wore many a scar it was the only life he ever knew That one question never really hounded him How could so much belong, to so few You have got to make due with what you can get There ain't no use in carryin' a load of regret And now you're back and you can't help but to pretend Back to where you started once again.. Of the worst situation he would never complain for what is there to say? In a world where judges reservations of you are fit to mold like clay His world his judges could never conceive All that they can see is all that they can believe And now you're back and you can't help but to pretend Back to where you started once again To be legit is for all you can hope to ask against the hard blown winds of circumstance Where the same one who robs you is from who you can steal The whole situation becomes cruel and unjust to all involved parties that just do what they must And now you're back and you can't help but to pretend Back to where you started once again Now it seems Charlie has dropped out of line on a side road he's now tired enough to pursue It's the road from rags to riches but it ain't no park avenue You have got so many hard years upon your soul You can't stop now, you're on a roll And now you're back and you can't help but to pretend Back to where you started once again