| He wore a song around his neck like some medal of honor | 
| Carried his wisdom, lucky knife | 
| An empty pocket was a temporary chain | 
| Knowing you’ve got it coming, ain’t no crime | 
| Every blue note that rolled off his tongue | 
| You could feel his soul twisting right into | 
| Nobody knew where he came from | 
| Oh but everybody knew, everybody knew | 
| He was the real thing, no doubt about it | 
| The kind that you remember when they’re gone | 
| The real thing put here for a reason | 
| We knew someday the whole world was going to know his name | 
| Yeah, he was the real thing | 
| She whispered in his ear and he heard the thunder | 
| Singing 'bout a world he never knew | 
| Head spinning 'round, he began to wonder | 
| Was he made to love her or born to sing the blues | 
| He searched inside him for the answer | 
| But all he found was a troubled mind | 
| He left her somewhere on the blue highway | 
| But it wasn’t just another love that he left behind | 
| It was the real thing, no doubt about it | 
| The kind that you remember when he’s gone | 
| The real thing, not like passion’s fine | 
| But a burning, smoldering, oh, eternal flame | 
| And sometimes at night he longs for her whisper | 
| But he hides from the dawn | 
| 'Cause he always wakes to find her gone | 
| In some broken down dressing room, in some major city | 
| The thunder plays an old familiar tune | 
| He spies the face of a distant angel | 
| Outside beneath the halo moon | 
| Finger on the trigger, needle in the vein | 
| One more bullet, it might be your last ride | 
| This is ain’t no, no, show, this ain’t no nervous breakdown | 
| And it sure as hell, ain’t the time to let the fool decide | 
| This is the real thing, no doubt about it | 
| Who cares if they love you when you’re gone | 
| This is the real thing, so you were put here for a reason | 
| But what gives you the right to quit when you’re tired | 
| Anyway boy, this ain’t no game | 
| This is the real thing | 
| He wore a song around his neck | 
| Like some medal of honor | 
| He carried his wisdom like a knife |