She got knocked up and kept on drinking
Smoked a half a pack a day
She didn't want that baby
But she had him anyway
He showed up three weeks early
She left him down on cradle row
It's a rough start for Buddy
And, a long way to go
Life ain't easy on a bastard
Kids are wild and mean and brash
It don't help it when your daddy was Juarez basura
Your mama was El Paso trash
Leaving one side calling him greasy
Another hollering gringo
It's a rough start for Buddy
And a long way to go
I don't claim to know a damn thing
About the way the world goes around
And how some folks are born and primed to swim
And other folks are primed to drown
But when the cards are on the table
You play your hand
Or you can fold
It's a rough start for Buddy
And a long way to go
He found himself on the curb one last time
On the day he turned eighteen
He thought about the army
But couldn't see himself in green
So he headed north along the Rio Grande
He knew his life wasn't in vain
It was just unplanned
And sure as a mockingbird sings a stolen song
And the straightest path finds a crow
It's a rough start for Buddy
And a long way to go