I tried to die young which made me prematurely old
I made sure to overindulge in sex and drugs and rock and roll
But the sex produced a child, the drugs only worked for a little while
And rock and roll got boring on the night the audience stayed at home
I tried to die young which made up which made up ten miles of bad road
Which leads to a nice place to visit if you don't run into anyone you know
Because we all know how people talk, you southern belles just can't refrain from flapping your jaws
The rumors still abound about the nights when I was trying to die young
But I've only now realized that there's nothing wrong with stacking up the years and getting on
It's as if we say survivors don't belong
There's nothing worse than carrying on when there's nothing left to carry at all
I tried to die young, I couldn't live past twenty-seven
I couldn't leave a good lookin' corpse just yet
I hadn't left enough behind to live on
My next work will always be my best
The next record will always be my last
Hell, this could be the last time any of you ever see me alive
But I've only now realized that there's nothing wrong with stacking up the years and getting on
It's as if we say survivors don't belong
There's nothing worse than carrying on when there's nothing left to carry at all