The final track of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s 1991 posthumous compilation album The Sky is Crying, though it was originally recorded two years earlier in 1989. Written by Stevie’s friend Doyle Bramhall, “Life By The Drop” is a solo acoustic blues track about Bramhall’s friendship with SRV from Bramhall’s perspective, though it’s been alternately interpreted to be at least somewhat about Stevie’s struggles with drug and alcohol abuse. In other words, this makes the song a cover version of another song someone else wrote about him.
Regardless of what the exact meaning is, fans agree that “Life by the Drop” is one hell of an emotional sendoff from a talented man who left this world far too soon.
Lyrics
Hello there my old friend
Not so long ago it was till the end
We played outside in the pourin' rain
On our way up the road we started over again
You're livin' out dreams of you on top
My mind is achin' oh lord it won't stop
That's how it happened livin' life by the drop
Up and down that road in our worn out shoes
Talkin' 'bout good things and singin' the blues
You went your way and I stayed behind
We both knew it was just a matter or time
You're livin' out dreams of you on top
My mind is achin' oh lord it won't stop
That's how it happened life by the drop
No waste of time we're allowed today
Churnin' up the past, there's no easier way
Times been between us, a means to an end
God its good to be here walkin' together my friend
Livin' our dreams
My mind stopped achin'
That's how it happened livin' life by the drop
That's how it happened livin' life by the drop
That's how it happened livin' life by the drop
Songwriters: Barbara Logan / Doyle Bramhall
Life By the Drop lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Reservoir Media Management Inc
