07 - Stan Rogers - Front Runner

Now, was it nine years or ten
Since you last saw this friend?
Why, it seemed like it was no time at all
There weren't enough changes
To make him a stranger
'Cause we both had old good times to recall

Now, he was worn out with walking
So he sat there not talking
But smiled when our eyes chanced to meet
Then I mentioned the past
And he spoke up at last
Shook his head and laid his world at my feet

And he said "I've been a front-runner
I've been richer than most men, you see
I've been mighty, now I'm broken
Proud of word, now soft-spoken
All-seeing, now I'm blind as can be
Now, there are men who don't lose
Who take whatever they choose
And become what they set out to be
And other men who set the pace
But in the end lose the race
And, old buddy, you know that man is me"

Oh, you know I could not feel sorry
Though it was such a sad story
That I felt so much I thought I might break
Each man follows his fancies
Knows the odds and takes his chances
And in the end gets whatever he takes

Well, so it was with my old friend
Who followed his own end
And was worn like the holes in his shoes
And neither wisdom nor cunning
Could slow the pace or change the running
Of a race he always knew he would lose

'Cause he said "I've been a front-runner
I've been richer than most men, you see
I've been mighty, now I'm broken
Proud of word, now soft-spoken
All-seeing, now I'm blind as can be
Oh, there are men who don't lose
Who take whatever they choose
And become what they set out to be
And other men who set the pace
But in the end lose the race
And, old buddy, you know that man is me"