Socket on Counter

Intro — low spoken / close mic] When these hands stop moving the ghosts get loud So I find something broke and I fix it somehow [Verse 1] There’s a socket on the counter old boots by the door A motor half-tore down on the garage floor Coffee gone cold but the radio plays Same three chords through a long damn day I got grease in the cracks where the hurt don’t show Tape on my knuckles from a fight with a bolt Ain’t running from nothing I just know how it gets When the room goes quiet and my mind don’t quit So I tighten that screw sharpen that blade Sweep up the dust stack wood in the shade Anything useful anything loud I keep my hands busy so my head don’t get proud [Pre-Chorus] I don’t need saving I don’t need a crowd I just need the noise to settle back down A man learns young how to make pain behave Put it in the work till it knows its place [Chorus] I keep my hands busy so my head don’t get loud Fixing what I can while the rest burns down Hammer to the nail wrench to the rust Sweat on my shirt and a mouth full of dust I keep my hands busy when the night gets mean Turn a bad thought quiet with a busted machine I ain’t hiding I ain’t weak I ain’t begging for easy I just know what happens when my hands ain’t busy [Verse 2] There’s a screen door hanging by a half-bent hinge A truck bed full of things I meant to fix Grass too high fence leaned wrong Sink still dripping like it’s singing my song So I get to moving before I get to thinking Keep the old ship floating when the floor starts sinking I’ve built whole days out of one more chore Just to keep my shadow from knocking at the door And maybe that ain’t healing but it kept me alive Kept my boots on dirt kept fire in my eyes Sometimes survival ain’t pretty or clean Sometimes it’s a man and a half-dead dream [Pre-Chorus] I don’t need saving I don’t need a crowd I just need the noise to settle back down A man learns young how to make pain behave Put it in the work till it knows its place [Chorus] I keep my hands busy so my head don’t get loud Fixing what I can while the rest burns down Hammer to the nail wrench to the rust Sweat on my shirt and a mouth full of dust I keep my hands busy when the night gets mean Turn a bad thought quiet with a busted machine I ain’t hiding I ain’t weak I ain’t begging for easy I just know what happens when my hands ain’t busy [Bridge — stripped / heavy emotional restraint] Some men pray in churches some men pray in bars Some men find God under broken-down cars Some men say nothing but the workbench knows Every dent in the wood where the old pain goes I’ve left pieces of myself in sawdust and steel In the bend of a shovel in the turn of a wheel I ain’t trying to explain it I ain’t trying to be deep I just know I sleep better when the hurt gets tired before me [Breakdown — stomp rhythm / chant] Cut it sand it weld it wire it Lift it drag it stack it fire it Patch it paint it turn that key Let that engine talk for me Hands stay moving heart stay steady Mind gets loud but I stay ready [Final Chorus] I keep my hands busy so my head don’t get loud Fixing what I can while the rest burns down Hammer to the nail wrench to the rust Sweat on my shirt and a mouth full of dust I keep my hands busy when the night gets mean Turn a bad thought quiet with a busted machine I ain’t hiding I ain’t weak I ain’t begging for easy I just know what happens when my hands ain’t busy [Outro — low spoken] When these hands stop moving the ghosts get loud So if you see me working late now you know why