Leave the whiskey on the table. I need to hear this sober. You’ve been quiet all evening. Go on. Say what you came to say. Texas rain was rattling the screen, She set her wedding ring between her coffee cup and me. I asked her if she’d found somebody new, She said, “There’s no one. I just don’t love you.” I’d begged her for a reason I could hate, She gave me one I couldn’t argue away. I won’t turn away this time; I’ll stay and hear it through, I’ve lost too much already hiding from the truth. Give me the painful truth. Don’t make it pretty. I’ve swallowed enough lies to last me a lifetime. Let it hurt. Let it burn. Let it show me what I never learned. A beautiful lie might comfort you… But freedom… freedom needs the truth. Can’t ride free with a lie on your mind, No matter how much road you leave behind. I drove that hurt from Texas into Tennessee, Told every bartender she’d given up on me. A bar singer sang about an empty chair, A table set for two, a man who wasn’t there. I’d turned those country songs off all my life, Now I heard the years I’d missed, working late and telling lies. I won’t turn away this time; I’ll stay and hear it through, I’ve lost too much already hiding from the truth. Give me the painful truth. Don’t make it pretty. I’ve swallowed enough lies to last me a lifetime. Let it hurt. Let it burn. Let it show me what I never learned. A beautiful lie might comfort you… But freedom… freedom needs the truth. Can’t ride free with a lie on your mind, No matter how much road you leave behind. Met a woman later; when she asked about my past, I told her why the first one hadn’t lasted. “Keep your word,” she said, “and tell me when you can’t. Give me who you are; I’ll take my chances with that man.” Now there’s country in our kitchen when we dance at night, And love I don’t have to hold together with a lie. I told her things I thought would make her get up and leave, She let me finish, took my hand, and sat there close to me. For the first time in years, I could take a full breath in— Nothing left to cover up, no story to defend. Give me the painful truth. Don’t make it pretty. I’ve swallowed enough lies to last me a lifetime. Let it hurt. Let it burn. Let it show me what I never learned. A beautiful lie might comfort you… But freedom… freedom needs the truth. Can’t ride free with a lie on your mind, No matter how much road you leave behind. You know the whole story now. And I can finally breathe.
