From Elvis in Memphis
Album - 1969 - Debaser id 106292

I remember my first love affair
Somehow or another the whole darn thing went wrong
My mamma had some great advice
So I thought I'd put it into words of this song
I can still hear her sayin' it

Boy, Oh, I see you're sittin' out there all alone
Cryin' your eyes out 'cos the woman that you love has gone
Oh, there's gonna be, there's gonna be a whole lot of trouble in your life
Oh, so listen to me get up off your knees 'cos only the strong survive
That's what she said, only the strong survive
Only the strong survive,
Oh you've got to be strong, you'd better hold on
Don't go all around with your head hung down


Well I wouldn't let that little girl
No, I wouldn't let her know that she made me feel like a clown
There's a whole lot a girls lookin' for a good man like you
Oh but you'll never meet 'em if you give up now and say that your life is through
Yes she said: Only the strong survive, only the strong survive,
You've got to be a man, you've got to take a stand

Only the strong survive, only the strong survive,
Oh, you've got to be strong, you'd better hold on
'Cos only the strong survive
Only the strong survive, only the strong survive,
Well, you've got to be a man, you've got to take a stand
Only the strong survive, only the strong survive

That big eight-wheeler runnin' down the track
Means your true lovin' daddy ain't acomin' back
'Cause he's movin on, he's rollin on
You were flyin to high for my little ol' sky
So I'm movin' on

But some day baby when you've had you play
Your gonna want your daddy but your daddy will say
Keep movin' on, keep rollin' on
You were flyin to high for my little ol' sky
So I'm movin' on. Move on baby.

Mr. Farmer won't you please listen to me
'Cause I gotta pretty momma in Tennessee
Keep rollin on, keep movin' on,
Please listen to me let this rattler free
And keep movin' on
Move on ol' son, move on

Well I told you baby from time to time
But you just wouldn't listen or pay me no mind
And now I'm movin' on, I'm rollin' on
I'm through with you, too bad you're blue
But I'm movin' on
Move on baby, move on
I said move on, I said move on,
I said move on, I said move on,
Well I'm through with you, too bad you're blue
I said move on, I said move on
I said move on, I said move on

(words & music by Mac Davis)


As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
'cause if there's one thing that she don't need
it's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto

People, don't you understand
the child needs a helping hand
or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
are we too blind to see,
do we simply turn our heads
and look the other way

Well the world turns
and a hungry little boy with a runny nose
plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto

And his hunger burns
so he starts to roam the streets at night
and he learns how to steal
and he learns how to fight
In the ghetto

Then one night in desperation
the young man breaks the rules
He buys a gun, steals a car,
tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries

As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto

As her young man dies,
on a cold and gray Chicago mornin',
another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries