[Verse 1] I was born where the river bends In a house with a screen-door scar Mama said, "Boy, keep your boots on And keep your word in the dark" Dad had hands like fence-wire From the years and the chopping block He taught me how to take a hit And how to leave when the room got hot [Pre-Chorus] Now the county line knows my name And the sheriff knows my laugh I don't wear gold on my fingers I wear trouble on my back [Chorus] Rat-steel road, take me home Rat-steel road, take me home I been broke, I been burned Still I stand when the rest have gone Rat-steel road, take me home Rat-steel road, take me home If the devil wants a bargain He can find me where the dust blows on [Verse 2] I had a woman with a red-stained coat And a mouth like a switchblade kiss She loved me mean, then loved me gone Left a note and a broken wrist I sold my watch for gas money Played for dimes in a barroom haze With a cracked old song and a scarred-out grin And a thousand miles of bad days [Pre-Chorus] Now the moon hangs low and hard On the edge of my empty land I don't pray for easy living I just pray I still can stand [Chorus] Rat-steel road, take me home Rat-steel road, take me home I been broke, I been burned Still I stand when the rest have gone Rat-steel road, take me home Rat-steel road, take me home If the devil wants a bargain He can find me where the dust blows on [Bridge] Let the hard times call my bluff Let the night come mean and cold I was cut from iron and hunger And a story that's too old [Final Chorus] Rat-steel road, take me home Rat-steel road, take me home I been broke, I been burned Still I stand when the rest have gone Rat-steel road, take me home Rat-steel road, take me home With my boots, my scars, my shadow I keep rolling till the graveyard's closed
