Billy and me were the best kind of friends
We were drinking every night

And most every night Billy'd keep the good times rollin'
But every once in a while he'd get a look in his eye
Like he was lost and he couldn't go on
He'd just say:

It ain't easy sometimes to see where you're goin'
It ain't easy sometimes to see where you're goin'

Billy and me we'd take the Southside bus
‘bout once in every week
He'd leave me in the bar and then he'd go off strollin'
He'd be back in an hour with money to burn
But he'd never say where he'd been to
He'd just say:

It ain't easy sometimes to see where you're goin'
It ain't easy sometimes to see where you're goin'

There is a desert where no life does move
There is a darkness where no light does shine
Nobody can take your first step out of there
You got to do it yourself, you got to do it yourself

Friday night I was waitin' in the Southside bar like before
Two, three hours went by Billy still wasn't showin'
You know when I found him he was hurt real bad
And bleedin' like I have never seen
He just said:

It ain't easy sometimes to see where you're goin'
It ain't easy sometimes to see where you're goin'

Call out your doctor, call out your nurse,
Call out your preacher too
You can call out your doctor, call out your nurse,
Call out your preacher too
But the will to live, you got to do that yourself
There's no other way
The will to live, you got to do that yourself