We'll say a friend of mine, a fella I know real well,

Came to me on friday and he had a story to tell

I've heard it a thousand times, but this one hits close to home

The woman who left him I've taken for my own.

Love leaves you no choice in the matter

And there ain't a damn thing sadder than a man

In the throes of something real

The woman that lays down beside you,

She can't help or hide you

It don't matter how she wants to feel.

So I bought him a round or two and gave him a talking to

I said, "boy, you can't let yourself get so far"

But you can't tell a man a thing when he's picking out diamond rings

And you yourself don't know who you are.

Love leaves you no choice in the matter

And there ain't a damn thing sadder than a man

In the throes of something real

The woman that lays down beside you,

She can't help or hide you

It don't matter how she wants to feel.

My hands, they used to be a young man's hands

But I worked 'em to the bone

When'd she even find the time to get to know another man?

"Leave me alone," he said, "leave me alone".

Love leaves you no choice in the matter

And there ain't a damn thing sadder than a man

In the throes of something real

The woman that lays down beside you,

She can't help or hide you

It don't matter how she wants to feel.