I've got some mighty tall tales from livin' hard and fast
I'm a walkin,' talkin,' livin,' breathin,' portrait of my past
I've double-crossed the devil, prayed the Lord my soul to keep
Escaped some early graves by the skin of my teeth
All the deepest secrets of my soul the world can plainly see
'Cause everything I've ever done is written all over me
If you just read between the lines of this well-weathered face of mine
Every wrinkle, every scar was a painful work of art
That reminds me of mistakes that I've made
And no story I can tell can tell it quite as well
As these souvenirs that livin's left behind
So take a long, hard look at the cover of this book
And read between the lines
And read between the lines

They might be hard to find on this rigid face of stone
There are pleasant deep impressions that are solid as gold
And I'll be the first to tell you that this ol' boy's been blessed
'Cause even the worst of times have turned out for the best
Like roads on a map they cross a battered stretch of skin
You can trace your way through memory lane to anywhere I've been

If you just read between the lines of this well-weathered face of mine
Every wrinkle, every scar was a painful work of art
That reminds me of mistakes that I've made
And no story I can tell can tell it quite as well
As these souvenirs that livin's left behind
So take a long, hard look at the cover of this book
And read between the lines
And read between the lines