[Instrumental] [Intro] [clean electric guitar rhythm enters, syncopated strumming pattern] (Verse 1) I burned through every dollar, every bridge, every town Blue lights in the mirror, mama crying when they hauled me down Needles and motel rooms, whiskey on my breath I was twenty going on ninety, shaking hands with death I wore rage like a leather jacket, scars beneath my skin Thought being feared by everybody meant I’d finally win But graveyards fill up fast with kings who never changed And every friend I buried left another ghost in chains (Pre-Chorus) I kept running from the man I was Till there was nowhere left to go (Chorus) Now I’m looking through the bars of all the years I threw away At broken hearts and funeral cars and promises betrayed I finally learned to love, finally learned to pray Finally got clean enough to face the light of day But the doctor said the shadows in my head don’t leave much time Funny how I found my life Just in time to say goodbye (Verse 2) My mother’s voice sounds older now when she calls me on the phone My sister died while I was locked inside a six-by-eight alone I missed birthdays, missed Christmas, missed the chance to make things right Spent half my life in darkness trying to kill the light Then I met a woman brave enough to see what I could be She held me through the nightmares and the sickness inside me I started waking sober, started working honest days Thought maybe God still listened even after all my ways (Pre-Chorus) But redemption’s got a cruel sense of humor sometimes (Chorus) Now I’m looking through the bars of all the years I threw away At county cells and hospital halls and tattoos turned to shame I finally learned to live, finally dropped the chains Finally found some peace inside the hurricane But the MRI lit up like fire across my mind Funny how I found my soul Just in time to lose my life (Bridge) Maybe heaven lets the broken in Maybe mercy don’t ask where you’ve been If I got a few more sunsets left to see I’ll spend them trying to be the man They all deserved from me (Final Chorus) Now I’m staring at my family like a man seeing grace At every tear I caused them and every line upon their face And I ain’t scared of dying near as much as leaving them behind Cause after all the hell I made They still call me theirs tonight So if tomorrow never finds me And these last songs are all I write Tell ‘em I finally became somebody worth loving “Static in My Skull” (Verse 1) Trailer park sirens and fluorescent nights Jaw locked tight under bathroom lights Burn holes in the carpet, shadows on the wall Everybody said I was headed for a fall Skinny kid playing king with a stolen grin Glass pipe prophecy crawling under my skin Three days awake hearing God through the fan Thought I was immortal back then (Pre-Chorus) Every bad decision Still twitching in my veins (Chorus) Now there’s static in my skull Something eating through the wires I spent my whole life trying not to feel Now I’m terrified to die I buried love in shallow graves Watched my family disappear And the second I got clean enough The ending reappeared I finally found a reason to stay alive Right when the future flatlined (Verse 2) County orange and a numb concrete bed Friends OD’d while I was locked up instead Ex-girlfriend’s voice through a collect call line Saying, “Joshua, you’re running out of time” Mama quit believing every word I said Dad looked at me like I was already dead I learned too late what destroying yourself means You don’t burn alone — you scorch everything (Pre-Chorus) Now I sleep without the chemicals But I still shake at night (Chorus) There’s static in my skull Tumor blooming like a curse All the years I should’ve lived somehow Just made everything hurt worse Cause I can finally hold somebody Without poisoning their lungs Finally hear silence Without reaching for a gun I finally became somebody worth saving After the damage was done (Bridge — half spoken / half screamed) What if change comes too late? What if getting clean was never the ending? What if God lets you crawl out of hell Just long enough to understand what you destroyed? (Breakdown) MRI glow Black-and-white death show Doctors talking slow Like I don’t already know (Final Chorus) There’s static in my skull But for once my hands are still No more running from the mirrors No more fighting every pill If tomorrow takes me under At least they’ll know I tried Cause the man I am right now Is someone I’d let survive And maybe that’s enough Maybe that’s the point You don’t always beat the darkness Sometimes you just learn to face it before the lights go out [Section A] [second clean electric guitar enters with melodic lead line] [lead guitar uses slides and double-stops] [Section B] [rhythm guitar continues percussive chord progression] [lead guitar performs higher register melodic variations] [Outro] [lead guitar fades out] [rhythm guitar ends on a sustained final chord]
