Written by: Stephen Bruton & John "00" Fleming
Performed by: The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson)
Appears on: The Road Goes on Forever-1995 & The Road Goes on Forever (10th Anniversary Edition)-2005.
[Kristofferson:]
I been obnoxious.
[Jennings:]
I been unconscious.
[Kristofferson:]
I been all kinds of things that are hard to spell.
[Nelson:]
I've been unruly.
[Cash:]
Speakin' truly.
[Nelson:]
I've been so cool, I couldn't hardly even stand myself.
[Jennings:]
I've been a monster.
[Cash:]
Without a sponsor.
[Jennings:]
I've been Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.
[Cash:]
I've been a gonner.
[Nelson:]
I've been a loner.
[Cash:]
And when my mixture was right,
[All 4:]
I'm a nice bunch of guys.
[All 4:]
I am what I am,
'Cause I ain't what I used to be.
(No.)
'Cause it is what it is,
But it ain't what it used to be.
[Jennings:]
I've been a mover.
[Nelson:]
I've was a shaker.
[Kristofferson:]
You had a girlfriend.
I tried to snake her.
[Jennings:]
I been mysterious.
[Cash:]
I been delirious.
[Jennings:]
I been so weird it woulda killed a normal man.
[Nelson:]
I wanted money.
[Jennings:]
I wanted power.
[Nelson:]
I want a monument kinda like the Eifel Tower.
[Cash:]
I been lost at sea.
[Kristofferson:]
I been lost in space.
[Cash:]
And when I fall in love I fall all over the place.
[All 4:]
I am what I am,
'Cause I ain't what I used to be.
(Wo, no.)
'Cause it is what it is,
But it ain't what it used to be.
(Well, tell 'em about it.)
[Kristofferson:]
Oh, you can go on forever and make the same mistakes.
[Jennings:]
Or you can stand up on your hind legs and change your fate.
[Nelson:]
Go on and do, until you finally see,
[Jennings:]
What it is that it was that you don't wanna be.
(Walk and talk. Whew!)
[Instrumental break:]
[Cash:]
I was an outlaw.
[Jennings:]
I was an inlaw.
[Kristofferson:]
I was a scapegoat, that was the last straw.
[Jennings:]
I hit the highway,
[Nelson:]
Singin', "My way."
[Kristofferson:]
But it wound up soundin' like, "You'll Never Walk Alone."
[Jennings:]
I got a story.
[Cash:]
Reflected glory.
[Jennings:]
Is the way that I been seein' for most of my life.
[Nelson:]
I heard the laughter.
[Kristofferson:]
Up in the rafter.
[Nelson:]
But I never, ever thought that the joke was on me.
[All 4:]
I am what I am,
'Cause I ain't what I used to be.
(Well, maybe just a little.)
'Cause it is what it is,
But it ain't what it used to be.
(One more.)
Yeah, I am what I am,
'Cause I ain't what I used to be.
'Cause it is what it is,
But it ain't what it used to be.
(Ha, ha. Yeah!)
