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WEBMISTRESS speculates:
This song is really catchy. It seems to express discontent (like so many of Lindsey's songs do) - he needs "somebody [he] can lean on" but he doesn't seem to have anyone because he's "in love with the game." Perhaps he was aware that he was a little too focused on his music career to give Stevie all the emotional investment that she wanted - and since they were still together at this point, he wanted to fix the problem. After all, he "can't say no" to Stevie - when it comes to her he's "without a leg to stand on." But the discontent seems to come from the fact that any concessions he makes will detract from his life - they cause him to feel like he "used to be somebody" but now he's losing that freedom. The problem is that he doesn't really want to be "set free" because he "can't let go." I think Lindsey feels the trade-off is acceptable, but he's still grumbling about it.
DW speculates:
This song hits me as a "trying to make it in the music business" kind of song (especially so since it was written in the early 70s while he was doing exactly that). Trying to make it involves a lot of rejection, which leads to a lot of soul searching and reevaluating and philosophizing about whether or not you're really working toward something tangible or if you're just wasting your time on a dream.
I got nothin' but time
No time for living
I've been everywhere
It's all the sameSo far, despite all efforts, he's got nothing to show for his attempts. He's got nothing but more time to dream, and yet no time to live because all of his time is spent working on the music. It doesn't matter where he goes; he's still faced with the same rejection and still consumed by the same dreams.
I just need somebody
That I can lean on
Nobody wants to keep you
When you're in love with the gameHe wants someone from whom he can find some comfort and support in the trying times, but he also realizes that his dreams can't sustain another person. He's afraid that nobody will really want him, knowing how deeply committed he is to music.
But you know that I can't let go
And there ain't nothin' left to show
Got the feeling I can't say no
Without a leg to stand onEven though his dreams haven't materialized yet and he's got that trepidation about love wrestling around in his mind, he's entirely unable to loosen his grip on his dreams. He's got nothing to prove his efforts are worth it yet, so he knows he's in no position to stand his ground against those who may wish to distract him from his focus. But he simply can't be another way. (A precursor to Go Your Own Way's "How can I ever change the things that I feel?")
There's so many fine people
That I believe in
They don't care where I'm going
It's not their show
I got nothin' but time
No time for living
I used to be somebody
But that was so long agoThere are people (musicians?) he admires and believes in. He draws strength and inspiration from them, but looking to them also leads to some disheartened feelings. Those people, and nobody else for that matter, believe in him in the same way. He's a nobody.
Look around but you won't see me
Just a picture of what I used to be
There ain't nothin' to set me free
Without a leg to stand onNothing has a greater pull on him than his dreams. They have such a strong pull, as a matter of fact, that they're almost a burden from which he can't free himself. This is a theme he revisits many years later in "Street of Dreams" when he's tasted success (but a lot of loss in his personal life) and he's trying to decide if those dreams and his need to pursue those dreams was worth it or if he would have been better off without them. From a very different point in his own life then, he ultimately reached the same conclusion he reaches here. Huge drawbacks and all, the dream/music is still the same burning passion that he can't let go. It's a "burden" from which he ultimately doesn't want to be freed. He's wavering on how firm the ground is in which he stakes his claim, but he's staking it anyway.
But you know that I can't let go
And there ain't nothin' left to show
Got the feelin' I can't say no
Without a leg to stand onIs he working toward something tangible or wasting time on a dream? I think he's not sure. But even though he doesn't have a leg to stand on, he's not giving up just yet.