The Boy I Was

[Intro — low, smoky vocal; lazy acoustic guitar, distant pedal steel] Well, I came back Tuesday To a town I knew too well, With a pocket full of nothing And a story I won't tell. [Verse 1] There's a crack across the mirror Where the bartender once stood, And the neon's lost the letter That said everything was good. I asked him 'bout a woman With a black dress and green eyes, He said, "Son, around here lately, That's about half the town's size." [Pre-Chorus] I checked the booth beside the window, Asked the waitress if she'd heard, She just laughed and kept on pouring, Said, "You always were a strange old bird." [Chorus] I've been looking through the lost and found, Every bar in every nowhere town, Turned up trouble, turned up lies, A few bad checks and alibis. I chased the moon down county lines, Spent good years and better times, There's one thing gone I can't replace, And I can't remember where I left that place. [Verse 2] There's a deputy named Dawson Who still owes me twenty bucks, Says I left here with a suitcase And a whole lot of bad luck. There's a room above the pool hall Where I swore I'd never stay, And a photograph of somebody That the rain has washed away. I asked the old piano player If he knew what I'd been through, He said, "You came in here with everything, Then left without your shoes." [Pre-Chorus] Now the jukebox plays a sad song That I swear I used to know, And the bartender stops smiling When I ask him where to go. [Chorus] I've been looking through the lost and found, Every bar in every nowhere town, Turned up trouble, turned up lies, A few bad checks and alibis. I chased the moon down county lines, Spent good years and better times, There's one thing gone I can't replace, And I can't remember where I left that place. [Bridge — drums drop out; baritone guitar and crying steel] Then he reached beneath the counter, Pulled a dusty cardboard box, Said, "You told me if you came back, You'd be looking for this watch." Inside, beneath a letter And a key I'd never seen, Was a little wooden horseshoe And a picture, worn and green. I turned it over slowly, Saw the date and nearly cried— It was me beside a little boy With his hand wrapped up in mine. [Final Chorus — full band, restrained emotional lift] I've been looking through the lost and found, Every bar in every nowhere town, Blamed the whiskey, blamed the years, Blamed the roads that brought me here. I chased the moon down county lines, Left my best days far behind, There's one thing gone I can't replace— The boy I was before I walked away. [Outro — solo acoustic guitar, nearly spoken] I came back Tuesday To a town I knew too well. Funny thing about a lost man… He don't always know What he lost himself.