The fire burns on and on
That drives me on till all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men

Back when I was just seventeen
I thought that I knew everything
I could make it in this scene
To be a rising star that only gleamed
But all the answers disagreed
With the questions held for me

I was legal now at twenty-one
I knew the way the world should run
My God just look what I had done
Simply drunk and having fun
Looked for friends, but I found none
All alone at twenty-one

The fire burns on and on
That drives me on till all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men

At twenty-five I was surprised
That I was even half alive
Somehow I managed to survive
I felt my body's doing time
And in my back a hundred knives
From my friends at twenty-five

And now as Gabriel sounds my warning bell
I'd buy your life, if you would sell
A year or two if less compelled
So live your life and live it well
There's not much left of me to tell
I just got back up each time I fell

The fire burns on and on
That drives me on till all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men