Lyrics:

I could've been a contender
I could've been almost anything
I could've been a contender
I could've been almost anything

If not for you
If not for you
If not for you
If not for you
If not for you

Contender
Contender
And all the falls I took them down
And for what

Everything turned on the head of a pin

Like a shell that's no longer intact
It's inner strength no longer there
A child's toy is thrown away
And too broken to repair

And now and then I wonder why
That when luck came it passed me by
As if some force had tied me down
I'd marked the pegs and staked the ground

I'll come back strong I promise you
Though some of me has changed
My soul's intact the rest of me
Is more than rearranged

It's true
It's true
It's true

Contender
Contender
And all the falls I turned them down
And for what

I could've been a contender
I could've been almost anything
I could've been a contender
I could've been almost anything

It's not like we're equal
It's not like we're equal
It's not like we're equal
It's not like we're equal
If not for you

Contender
Contender
And all the lies I turned them down
And all the lies I turned them down