Jamey Johnson - High Cost Of Living Lyrics

I was just a normal guy.
Life was just a nine to five.
With bills and pressure,
piled up to the sky.

She never asked,
'cause she knew I'd been,
hangin' with my wilder friends.
Lookin' for some other way to fly.

Three days straight was no big feat,
to get by on no food or sleep.
And crazy,
was becoming my new norm.

I'd pass out on the bedroom floor,
and sleep right through the calm before the storm.

[chorus]
My life was just an old routine.
Every day the same damn thing.
I couldn't even tell I was alive.
I tell you,
the high cost of livin',
ain't nothin' like the cost of livin' high.

That Southern Baptist parkin' lot,
was where I'd go to smoke my pot.
And sit there in my pick-up truck and pray.

Starin' at that giant cross,
just reminded me that I was lost.
And it just never seemed to point the way.

As soon as Jesus turned his back,
I'd find my way across the tracks.
Lookin' just to score another deal.

With my back up against that damn eight-ball,
I didn't have to think, or talk... or feel.

[chorus]

My whole life went through my head.
Layin' in that motel bed.
Watchin' as the cops kicked in the door.

I had a job and a piece of land.
My sweet wife was my best friend,
but I traded that for cocaine and a whore.

With my newfound sobriety,
I've got the time to sit and think...
Of all the things I had,
and threw away.

This prison is much colder than,
the one that I was locked up in...
Just yesterday.

[chorus]

I tell you,
the high cost of livin',
ain't nothin' like the cost of livin' high.

...just leave that stuff alone... (quietly during closing instrumental)