[Intro] (Fast, ominous muted banjo picking, 2 bars) (Spoken, low gravel) Don't let that wiggle fool you, son... She ain't your friend. [Verse 1] Mottled gray and cattle-bred, devil in her stare, Sits as still as granite like she doesn't even care. She'll let you pet her head, she'll let you think you're fine, Just countin' down the seconds till you step across the line. Second in command, right behind my boots, Pure red-dirt savage in her dingo roots. She don't growl to warn you, and she don't waste a sound, She just waits until you're halfway in, then she runs you down. [Pre-Chorus] No warning bark, no rattle of the chain, Just forty pounds of muscle and a hurricane of pain. Ten o'clock I kiss 'em all and back out of the drive, She lays down across the doorway and she don't close her eyes. [Chorus] (Full band, gang vocals) I hold the line out there all night, She holds the line at home. Don't try the gate, don't try the door, Don't think they're all alone— She's second in command Whenever I'm gone. [Verse 2] I wear a badge on graveyard, ridin' county roads alone, Seen what moves at three a.m. that daylight never shows. Every call I answer is a house that looks like mine— A kicked-in door, a cut screen, somebody crossed the line. So you can lock the screen porch, you can latch the gate, Won't do a damn thing to slow down your fate. She plays the sweet angel while she's watchin' from the deck, Then she's got you by the boot heel 'fore you ever turn your neck. [Pre-Chorus] No warning bark, no rattle of the chain, Just forty pounds of muscle and a hurricane of pain. Ten o'clock I kiss 'em all and back out of the drive, She lays down across the doorway and she don't close her eyes. [Chorus] (Full band, gang vocals) I hold the line out there all night, She holds the line at home. Don't try the gate, don't try the door, Don't think they're all alone— She's second in command Whenever I'm gone. [Bridge] (Half-time, band drops to bass and brushed drums, harmonica swell) There's a night I won't talk about—I rolled in after dawn, Sat out in the driveway with the cruiser runnin' on. Couldn't make myself go in with that call still on my hands, She come down off the porch and leaned on me till I could stand. (Spoken) To me she's just my shadow... To anybody else— [Final Chorus] (Full band explodes back in, gang vocals all the way) I hold the line out there all night, She holds the line at home. Don't try the gate, don't try the door, Don't think they're all alone— She's second in command Whenever I'm gone. [Tag] (Gang vocal shout, double-time) She don't bark and she don't bluff, Don't care how big you are or how tough— Step past that gate and she'll lock her jaw, Out here, son, it's Lily's law! [Outro] (Gang shout, call-and-response) She's fast! (She's fast!) She's quiet! (She's quiet!) Cross that yard— You'll never forget Lily's name! (Band cuts out; muted banjo returns alone) (Spoken, soft) I'm home, girl... you can stand down. (Last banjo note rings out) [End]
