[Key: G Major] [BPM: 190] [Intro] [acoustic guitar] [banjo] [accordion] Some towns feel less like places And more like waiting rooms --- [Verse 1] [conversational vocal] There was a kid I knew Worked at the grocery store Stocked shelves Bagged groceries Smiled at customers Like it was part of the uniform His dad was gone His mom stayed home And his brother kept climbing The water tower Every birthday Like he was trying to get closer To whatever everybody else was looking for --- [Verse 2] [upright bass enters] The newspapers talked about his mother Sometimes Which seemed cruel Because she wasn't hurting anybody She was just way too big And in a town that needed Something to point at And his sisters were always arguing About money Or dinner Or who was doing more Which is usually another argument About money --- [Pre-Chorus] [instruments pull back] Everybody needed something --- [Chorus] [full band] Everybody needed something A ride A paycheck A caretaker A miracle A reason to stay A reason to leave Everybody needed something And somehow They all asked him --- [Verse 3] [driving] There was a married woman Who liked the way he listened And he liked the way She made him forget What time it was For an hour or two Which isn't love But it isn't nothing Either And maybe that's why People get confused --- [Verse 4] [building] Then one summer A girl rolled into town With her grandmother In a beat-up camper Like she wasn't aware The whole place had already given up She talked about the future Like it was a real location You could drive to If you had enough gas --- [Pre-Chorus] [instruments breathe] And for a minute He almost believed her --- [Chorus] [larger] Everybody needed something A ride A paycheck A caretaker A miracle A reason to stay A reason to leave Everybody needed something And somehow They all asked him --- [Bridge] [everything drops out] [fingerpicked guitar] The strange thing About being needed Is people call it love Until you're exhausted Then they call it responsibility And after enough years You stop remembering The difference --- [Bridge Build] [banjo tremolo] [accordion swelling] And the town keeps spinning And the town keeps spinning And the town keeps spinning In place --- [Verse 5] [full band returns] One night his mother died Quietly The way tired things do And the whole town showed up To stare at the house One last time Like grief was a tourist attraction And for the first time In years Nobody asked him For anything --- [Final Chorus] [full band explosion] Everybody needed something A ride A paycheck A caretaker A miracle A reason to stay A reason to leave Everybody needed something But nobody ever asked What he needed --- [Outro] [instruments gradually falling away] The house burned down A little while later Not because anybody hated it But because sometimes The kindest thing You can do for a memory Is let it stop hurting [accordion sustaining] [silence]
