I built my own chains in the land of the free A slave to a job that meant nothing to me With three shiny new cars and a split level home To furnish the tomb I was dying to own Then one day I wakened with fear in my eye Aware of a world that was passing me by And I knew that my savings of silver and gold Would mean not a thing when my body was cold Because life is a song for the dying to sing And it’s got to have feeling to mean anything And a man can get by without silver or gold With bread for the body and song for the soul I’m living my life by the lesson I’ve learned And not looking back at the bridges I’ve burned Cause the time that we travel from cradle to grave Was meant to be spent and not meant to be saved And I know there are some who will say I’m a fool But I don’t give a damn for the people that do Cause if down in a dungeon is where they belong Well, that’s their misfortune and none of my own Because life is a song for the dying to sing And it’s got to have feeling to mean anything And a man can get by without silver or gold With bread for the body and song for the soul