It Is What It Is

IT IS WHAT IT IS

Written by: Stephen Bruton & John "00" Fleming

Performed by: The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson)

Appears on: The Road Goes on Forever-1995 & The Road Goes on Forever (10th Anniversary Edition)-2005.



[Kristofferson:]

I been obnoxious.

[Jennings:]

I been unconscious.

[Kristofferson:]

I been all kinds of things that are hard to spell.

[Nelson:]

I've been unruly.

[Cash:]

Speakin' truly.

[Nelson:]

I've been so cool, I couldn't hardly even stand myself.



[Jennings:]

I've been a monster.

[Cash:]

Without a sponsor.

[Jennings:]

I've been Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

[Cash:]

I've been a gonner.

[Nelson:]

I've been a loner.

[Cash:]

And when my mixture was right,

[All 4:]

I'm a nice bunch of guys.



[All 4:]

I am what I am,

'Cause I ain't what I used to be.

(No.)

'Cause it is what it is,

But it ain't what it used to be.



[Jennings:]

I've been a mover.

[Nelson:]

I've was a shaker.

[Kristofferson:]

You had a girlfriend.

I tried to snake her.

[Jennings:]

I been mysterious.

[Cash:]

I been delirious.

[Jennings:]

I been so weird it woulda killed a normal man.

[Nelson:]

I wanted money.

[Jennings:]

I wanted power.

[Nelson:]

I want a monument kinda like the Eifel Tower.

[Cash:]

I been lost at sea.

[Kristofferson:]

I been lost in space.

[Cash:]

And when I fall in love I fall all over the place.



[All 4:]

I am what I am,

'Cause I ain't what I used to be.

(Wo, no.)

'Cause it is what it is,

But it ain't what it used to be.

(Well, tell 'em about it.)



[Kristofferson:]

Oh, you can go on forever and make the same mistakes.

[Jennings:]

Or you can stand up on your hind legs and change your fate.

[Nelson:]

Go on and do, until you finally see,

[Jennings:]

What it is that it was that you don't wanna be.

(Walk and talk. Whew!)



[Instrumental break:]



[Cash:]

I was an outlaw.

[Jennings:]

I was an inlaw.

[Kristofferson:]

I was a scapegoat, that was the last straw.

[Jennings:]

I hit the highway,

[Nelson:]

Singin', "My way."

[Kristofferson:]

But it wound up soundin' like, "You'll Never Walk Alone."

[Jennings:]

I got a story.

[Cash:]

Reflected glory.

[Jennings:]

Is the way that I been seein' for most of my life.

[Nelson:]

I heard the laughter.

[Kristofferson:]

Up in the rafter.

[Nelson:]

But I never, ever thought that the joke was on me.



[All 4:]

I am what I am,

'Cause I ain't what I used to be.

(Well, maybe just a little.)

'Cause it is what it is,

But it ain't what it used to be.



(One more.)



Yeah, I am what I am,

'Cause I ain't what I used to be.

'Cause it is what it is,

But it ain't what it used to be.