I?ve walked through this world sometime without a friend   My life has been up and down, been close to an end   I?ve been through the mill and I?ve paid my dues   Walked so many miles in different peoples shoes      But I?ve been through the fire and I?ve walked in the rain   I?ve felt the joy and endured the pain      Once I was a schemer but I always was a dreamer   But it took me who I was and where I?ve been   To make me who I am      I?ve met a lot of lost souls in the bowels of hell   Traveled some crooked roads and got some stories yet to tell   I?ve shot up with the junkie in piss stench halls   Broken bread with the devil, fallen on my knees to God      Some days I was blessed, some nights I was damned   But I always tried to lend a helping hand      Once I was a deceiver, now I am a believer   But it took me, who I was and where I?ve been   To make me who I am      Oh, I?ve seen the little children all strung out on dope   No one to care about them, living without hope   But I?ve been lucky that I always had a song   I?ll sing it with compassion, to try to right the wrong      Once my life was wretched but why should I regret it   'Cause, it took me, who I was and where I?ve been   To make me who I am      This is dedicated to my friends in jail   For my brother Jake who had to ride the rail   For my friend Roonie and Melvin who were so dear   They were so misunderstood but I wish they were still here   To hear this song I sing from my heart   They?re forever in my soul even though we had to part      Once I was a deceiver, now I am a believer   But it took me who I was and where I?ve been   To make me who I am      God said, "I forgive you, wipe away the scars   'Cause I know it took who you were   And where you came from to make you who you are   'Cause I know it took who you were   And where you came from to make you what you are"