He was a long tall stranger from way down south   Where he'd left his life behind   He had a big old Gibson and a pickup truck   And Shenandoah eyes   And I remember him sitting in that local bar   Where I earned my pay each night   Singing my songs to empty chairs   And going home half tight      And so the nights rolled by like headlights   Shining on a lonesome strip of tar   I kept his word of kindness close to me   Like a pick on my guitar   And we talked about the singers   And the songs we loved   And the songs we'd most forgot   In that rundown bar they'd make last call   And I'd never want to stop      'Cause I was living on nothing but a young girl's dreams   With my cowboy boots and my old six string   Hitching my wagon to a star   Dreaming of leaving those local bars   When I'd get him up at closing time   For a couple of songs and a chance to shine   Like the star that he longed to be   He looked a Hell of a lot like me      Well he'd played a lot of places where   The only wages were food and beer for free   No fancy licks but he had him a gift   For the kinds of songs he'd ding   But you do what you can to be a satisfied man   Just to have your piece of mind   And so he gave it all up for a government job   Where the paychecks come on time      So now he comes to the bar to hear me play guitar   And to share a drink or two   And we sit swapping tales of where   We've been and what we'd rather do   Well there's a wealth of dangers   When you're talking to strangers   And I meet them all the time   But my heart knew better than my head   When I looked into those yes      'Cause I was living on nothing but a young girl's dreams   With my cowboy boots and my old six string   Hitching my wagon to a star   Dreaming of leaving those local bars   When I'd get him up at closing time   For a couple of songs and a chance to shine   Like the star that he longed to be   He looked a Hell of a lot like me      Well maybe I'll quit when I've got me a kid   And a place to call my own   But tonight there ain't nobody there   Waiting up for me at home   It's a helluva way to live from day to day   Not knowing where you're bound   But the look in his eyes made me realize   I was glad for the life I'd found      'Cause I was living on nothing but a young girl's dreams   With my cowboy boots and my old six string   Hitching my wagon to a star   Dreaming of leaving those local bars   When I'd get him up at closing time   For a couple of songs and a chance to shine   Like the star that he longed to be   He looked a Hell of a lot like me   Like the star that he longed to be   He looked a Hell of a lot like me