Intro
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[Verse 1]
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You say you're down and out and need some help to get you through each day
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Well, here's a thought or two I've used and like to pass them on your way
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I found them lying there, the answers that you say you're looking for
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Make what you will of them and you can change the way it was before
[Chorus]
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You got to ma-ake it by yourself
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You know you got to make it by yourself
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I'll be your friend and I'll lend a helping hand
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But you got to try and help yourself before I can
[Verse 2]
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I hear you talk of all the happiness and emptiness you've known
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Well, let me reassure you, never were you really all a-lone
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They say in quiet desperation many people cannot see
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They cannot see the simple truth that's not the way it has to be
[Chorus]
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You got to fi-ind it by yourself
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God helps the man who helps himself, amen
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I am your friend and I'll lend a helping hand
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But you got to try and help yourself before I can
[Bridge]
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We got to help (we got to help) each other (each other)
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You got to help (you to help) your brother when you can
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When you can
[Verse 3]
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Now don't you think that I was preaching, I'm just reaching out for you
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'Cause that's the only way that I know how to get the message through
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Then you, in turn, have got to learn and teach it to somebody who
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Who felt the happiness, the emptiness the same as you
[Chorus]
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You got to ma-ake it by yourself
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You know you got to make it by yourself
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I'll be your friend and I'll lend a helping hand
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But you got to try and help yourself before I can (hold)