[Verse 1]
They cut corners on the factory floor,
Fake the numbers, always wanting more,
Boss rewards the ones who bend the rules,
While I'm stuck here looking like a fool.
[Verse 2]
Colleagues clock in then they disappear,
Others steal the credit year by year,
They climb up ladders built on sand,
While I'm just trying to be an honest man.
[Chorus]
I might be the last honest man,
Doing what's right when nobody can,
Costs me more than I'd like to pay,
But I sleep sound at the end of the day,
Yeah, I'm the last honest man,
Holding the line while I still can.
[Verse 3]
Sometimes I wonder if I've got it wrong,
Been passed over for promotion too long,
Watch them buy houses while I pay rent,
Maybe honesty ain't worth what I've spent.
[Guitar and Banjo Solo]
[Verse 4]
When I look myself in the eye,
Can't build my world on a lie,
Rather be broke with my conscience clear,
Than rich and hollow, living in fear.
[Bridge]
They say that playing fair don't pay,
But cheating costs you in a different way,
Takes your soul in pieces bit by bit,
Till there's nothing left of you that fits.
[Final Chorus]
I might be the last honest man,
Doing what's right though it's hard to stand,
Paid a price that others wouldn't pay,
But I walk tall at the end of the day,
Yeah, I'm the last honest man,
It's a dying breed across this land,
Last honest man, that's who I am.
[Outro - Verse 1]
They can keep their shortcuts and their schemes,
All their broken promises and empty dreams,
I'll take the harder road and make my stand,
Living as the last honest man.
[Outro - Verse 2]
When it's over and my time is done,
Won't regret the battles that I won,
Kept my word and played with honest hands,
That's the legacy of an honest man.
