Lyrics

I bumped into my neighbor strollin' through the grass
She's always so thoughtful so she figured she'd ask
"Is it the back door again, or is the front door open?"
I said: "It kinda depends, honey, on which way you're goin'."
And smiling as if to say: "Be that as it may"
She fell down on the ground and said: "Play it where it lays!"
(Refrain): It's not whether you win or lose.
It's not even whether you play the game
Stayin' out of the rain doesn't show how much you know
It's what you do when you get back home.

This crazy neighbor lady was a wild child bride
She never took sweets from strangers unless they gave her a ride
Now she's got less fingers than she does diamond rings
And she's seen more night trains than J.B. King.
Offer her a ride and she doesn't even want it
She's got more sidemen than the New York Philharmonic.
It's not whether you win or lose.
It's not even whether you play the game
Stayin' out of the rain doesn't show how much you know
It's what you do when you get back home.

Nature's full of tricks and so are my neighbors
I went next door there not really asking any favors
But then I got to feeling' pretty loaded and mean
And so was her old man's double-action carbine
So I said: "I'd hate to see one of us down in the ground or up in jail."
And he said: "You can't expect to live like a goldfish and die like a killer whale."
It's not whether you win or lose.
It's not even whether you play the game
Stayin' out of the rain doesn't show how much you know
It's what you do when you get back home.

I'm ready to get back to where life is simple
I'm ready to ride something' with no line down the middle
So don't speculate the future while you fiddle and dabble
I didn't ride half the night just to beat you at scrabble
Your in-depth insight is someone else's cliche
Well that's the last straw, darlin', let's hit the hay.
It's not whether you win or lose.
It's not even whether you play the game
Stayin' out of the rain doesn't show how much you know
It's what you do when you get back home.

I don't want to hear about your trip around the world
I don't care who you met on the jet
I don't really want to see Rome in Kodachrome..
Just tell me what you did when you got back home....