Advice is cheap you can take it from me   It's yours to keep 'cause opinions are free   Nobody knows about the trouble I've seen   Nobody's perfect, mister, nobody's clean   It cost too much and takes too long to find out too late   Some words are not heard 'til after they're spoken   Your role was protective, your soul was too defective   Some people just don't have a heart to be broken      We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China   If you'd only had a little more faith in me   In lieu of diamonds, gold and platinum reminders will still shine bright   All the king's men and all the king's horses   Can't put you together the way you used to be   We could have been standing on the Great Wall of China      You take a piece of whatever you touch   Too many pieces means you're touching too much   You never win if you can't play it straight   You only beat me if you get me to hate   It must be so lonely to think that you have only   Somebody else's life to live if they let you   I ain't too selective, but it don't take no detective   To find out how fast your friends will forget you      We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China   Now all you're going to be is history   Help yourself, it's all you can eat at the Empire Diner tonight   You coulda had class, you coulda have been a contender   Charlie, you shoulda looked out for me   You could have been standing, standing on the Great Wall of China      This was not your calling, just look how far you've fallen   I heard your story, man, you've got to be joking   Keep things in perspective, this is my true objective   Why tear this heart out if it's only been broken?   We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China   If you'd only had a little more faith in me   In lieu of diamonds, gold and platinum reminders will still shine bright   All the king's men and all the king's horses   Can't put you together the way you used to be   We could have been standing, standing on the Great Wall of China