The devil ain't a legend, the devil's real   In the empty way he touched me, where I hardly feel   In the empty hole inside me, the nothing that'll ride me   Down into my grave, it does not heal   Nothing is as something, it'll suck you dry   As the whisper you can hardly hear that tells you why.      They told me "You ain't got no problems, you're self-deceived"   These seeming contradictions, well they make believe   It was then that I decided my life was being guided   By a second-rate dependence on first-class thieves   They told me I was breaking through, I was breaking down   By the time I learned the difference they had long left town.      You know that they ain't so malicious, they ain't mean   They're just vaguely well-intentioned with no love I've seen   And it's the emptiness that kills you, cold comfort that'll fill you   With a sense of dread that maybe things are worse than they seem   They don't tell you nothing you don't already know   They just keep holding out the promise but they don't let go   You know they don't let go.      Well, it was hard luck and trouble, bad times too   I know I had 'em coming, but I got through   It was advice that you gave me in a dream that saved me   You said "Get a new life contract that spells out your dues."   Took good will to find it, a clear conscience to sign it   Now I dream about the good times and it all comes true.