[Strophe]
A 
I was just a normal guy. 
A 
Life was just a nine to five. 
A                                       E 
With bills and pressure piled up to the sky. 
E 
She never asked, she knew I'd been, 
E 
hangin' with my wilder friends. 
E                          A 
looking for another way to fly. 
     A 
And three days straight was no big feat 
     A 
I'd get by on no food or sleep 
    D                          Bm 
And crazy, was becoming my new norm. 
    A 
I'd pass out on the bedroom floor. 
    E                                       A        G 
And sleep right through the calm before the storm.
[Refrain]
   D 
My life was just an old routine. 
E                               A             G          D 
Everyday the same damn thing, I couldn't even tell I was alive. 
                A 
I tell you. The high cost of living,  
      E                               A 
ain't nothin' like the cost of living high.
[Strophe]
A 
That southern baptist parking lot. 
A 
Was where I'd go and smoke my pot. 
A                                 E 
Sit there in my pick-up truck and pray. 
E 
And stareing at that giant cross. 
E 
Just reminded me that I was lost. 
E                                     A 
And it just never seemed to point the way. 
A 
As soon as Jesus turned his back. 
A 
I'd find my way across the tracks. 
        D                     Bm 
Lookin' just to score another deal. 
     A 
With my back against that damn eight ball. 
  E                               A      G 
I didn't have to think or talk or feel.
[Refrain]
   D 
My life was just an old routine. 
E                               A             G          D 
Everyday the same damn thing, I couldn't even tell I was alive. 
                A 
I tell you. The high cost of living,  
      E                               A 
ain't nothin' like the cost of living high.
[Strophe]
A 
My whole life went through my head. 
A 
Laying in that hotel bed. 
A                                  E 
Watchin' as the cops kicked in the door. 
E 
I had a job and a piece of land. 
E 
And my sweet wife, was my best friend. 
E                                   A 
But I traded that for cocaine and a whore. 
A 
With my new found sobriety. 
A 
I've got the time to sit and think. 
   D                               Bm 
Of all the things I had, and threw away. 
     A 
This prison is much colder than that, 
    E                            A           G 
one that I was locked up in just yesterday.
[Refrain]
   D 
My life was just an old routine. 
E                               A             G          D 
Everyday the same damn thing, I couldn't even tell I was alive. 
                A 
I tell you. The high cost of living,  
      E                               A 
ain't nothin' like the cost of living high.