Lyrics

[Intro] Well, I wrote this song in the middle of the night It was ac— actually after I was watching a sh— movie called "Raging Bull" Story of Jake Lamotta with Robert De Niro And Martin Scorsese and, uh, it's been out forever I don't know what year it was, but I was watchin' it few years ago, and I was in between record deals and in between management deals and In between a whole lot of things And startin' a whole lot of other things I just had a baby, and, uh My wife just had a baby, actually I was part of it But, uh I was kind of wondering, you know I knew the, uh, I knew the fire that I still had inside to make music and to— And to, uh, get my music heard But, uh, I was, I was in a awkward spot to— to try and do anything about it And a friend of mine who's a music critic who liked my last record Had started out a— a piece on me sayin', "He coulda been a contender," and This was before I saw the movie, but it— It kind of, you know, pissed— pissed me off a bit, 'cause I— I kinda thought, you know Fairly young guy and just to kinda write off an entire, you know Decade worth of work with "He coulda been a contender," I thought I just thought it was a little early for that And so I was watchin' the story of Jake Lamotta and I just thought it was funny, and The similarities between the music business and the boxing business And what a bloody sport it can be And, uh I started thinking about it and I figured "Well, you gotta learn how to take a punch Just don't ever let 'em knock you down" [Verse 1] You could've been a contender The next great white hope Not just another pretender Not just the next big joke You had to reach for the stars, though Nobody gets it all Without playin' the game, son You're gonna take a fall [Chorus] You never knocked me down You never knocked me down You never knocked me down You never knocked me down [Verse 2] You don't get nothin' for nothin' Ain't that what they all say? We're all fightin' for somethin' But there's a price we pay And you can stand there forever Just take it blow by blow Nobody else is the wiser They just came for the show [Chorus] You never knocked me down You never knocked me down You never knocked me down You never knocked me down [Verse 3] In the fists of a stranger There's a shadow of doubt Go on, pretend you're a winner Go on, sell yourself out [Chorus] You never knocked me down You never knocked me down You never knocked me down You never knocked me down [Outro] You never knocked me down You never knocked me down You never knocked me down You never knocked me down