Top of the Bottom (Live)

John Wesley Harding

[Verse 1]
I started playing guitar by the town memorial
All my songs were singing editorials
And when I'd done the Sermon on the Mount
I counted my change, put it in my bank account
I didn't like the look of the local abattoir
So I left home, expanded my repertoire
I did some gigs, no one booed
I got free beer and I drank it with gratitude
Once I started, I couldn't stop

[Refrain]
That's how I got from the bottom to the top

[Verse 2]
Well, a businessman with a very young dolly bird
Talked through the set, liked what he thought he heard
Dropped some names he claimed to represent
And asked me if I had any management
Two weeks later, I'm signing on a dotted line
Offered some drugs, at first I declined
Lots of parties where the spread's incredible
But don't get close, man, the food's inedible
I became a spinning top

[Chorus]
And that's how I got from the bottom to the top

[Verse 3]
I got a sweet deal and I moved to America
I fell in love with an heiress called Erica
Started out smart, soon got silly
A party by the pool and an arrest for necrophilia
News travels fast like electricity
A bad mugshot, it's good publicity
I laid low for a month or two
And spent my dough building a recording studio
And that's when it all went pop

[Refrain]
And that's how I got from the bottom to the top of the bottom

[Verse 4]
My label and payola got me in the charts
My new management had me by the private parts
Went on strike, took the initiative
Forgetting that I didn't have a single chip to bargain with
I lost my nerve, my fall was glorious
The lawsuit was eternal and laborious
My new material was only fair-to-middling
Rome was burning and I did some fiddling
Finally, I was dropped

[Refrain]
And that's how I got from the bottom to the top of the bottom

[Verse 5]
Well, on the way down, people tend to leave you where you fall
I tried to stand up but I didn't have the wherewithal
I nearly died in a cab one day
So I swapped my bourbon for a bottle full of Perrier
There were rumours about my sexuality
Video star, killed by reality
Next thing I know, I'm on my knees
I'm begging the camera, will you vote me off the island please?
But the world forgives a flop

[Refrain]
That’s how I got from the bottom to the top of the bottom

[Verse 6]
Well, all that exposure and the phones start to ring again
I experience the strange urge to sing again
Not long ago, I was a boy with a dream
I reacquaint myself with a razor and some shaving cream
Look at me, I'm ripe for rediscovery
All I need is Mary to mother me
On the tenth green, I was way over par
My partner offered me a tour in Jesus Christ Superstar
And that's when the penny dropped

[Refrain]
That's how I got from the bottom to the top of the bottom

[Verse 7]
Well, we toured all over the States of America
I got a picture of my son from Erica
My parents wrote, "Since you disappeared
Hard to believe, but it's just been one year"
Now it's back to ale and cakes again
I wonder if I'll make the same mistakes again
I hope that you've enjoyed this tutorial
There's another young man playing the memorial
I'm getting bored of talking shop

[Refrain]
That's how I got from the bottom to the top of the bottom
To the top of the bottom
To the top of the bottom

Trivia about the song Top of the Bottom (Live) by John Wesley Harding

On which albums was the song “Top of the Bottom (Live)” released by John Wesley Harding?
John Wesley Harding released the song on the albums “Don’t Look Back Now” in 2009 and “Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead” in 2009.

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