Jerry Jeff Walker      This song is a letter sung to a special friend of mine   One who stopped his singing somewhere back along the line   I wondered if he'd had enough of the rip-offs and the jive   Or did he sing his song one night and lose the will to write      It never was a business deal, this thing with your guitar   It always seemed more a dance done deep inside your heart   Tonight I wonder if it's true, like we felt it at the start   That an artist truly does it best when he does it from the heart      It seems to be much more than an art when the art you sell is you   Be careful how you play the game or else the game plays you      In the old days we'd stay up nights and laugh until we cried   You said songs don't belong to us we just bring some thoughts to light      The rule of thumb is never give the truth away to rhyme   And a man can't lie when he tries to sing it betrays him every time   We really write to understand more about ourselves   And if we're lucky maybe then we touch someone else      Well, I just got back from Europe friend where they hung on every word   It made me feel a little better about my chosen line of work   They asked me if I knew you wrote a lot these days   I told 'em all I know is that you rarely ever play      We start out singing what we like and just give it all away   And wind up hating what we play and sit begging to be paid   So let me say in closing friend, I want you to know   I understand how hard it was to let your music go      An artist must decide which parts to leave in and take out   And if he no longer plays the game that's what the game's about