Once I lived a life of wine and roses and I drank a lot back then for one concern   Success for me lay just around the corner   I thought my social friends would help me make the turn   But now I'm paying for the days of wine and roses a victim of the drunken life I chose   Now all my social friends look down their noses   Cause I kept the wine and threw away the rose   [ steel ]   I stood by and watched the bottle take control of me   The turn I made was not the one I'd planned   I watched my social standings slip away from me   I watched the bottle slowly take command   And now I'm paying for...   Cause I kept the wine and threw away the rose