[Verse 1] Seventeen years Locked behind steel Abuse on my back Needle out of my arm Walked out the gate In a paper suit Two hundred bucks And nobody to lose [Pre-Chorus] I knew that stare I wore it hard Shame in my bones Tattooed on my heart But one small light Kept me alive Ain't no grave deep When you choose to rise [Chorus] Paper suit man I ain't that now Paper suit man I found a way out Clean hands, clear eyes I stood back up Paper suit man Turned pain to love (to love) [Verse 2] She saw my name Not my old charge Saw the man Not the broken parts She held my hand When the world looked cold Said, "I want you" Not the life you sold [Pre-Chorus] That love got real That love got loud Built a home Built a whole crowd One front porch light Turned into a flame Now every hard night Speaks a new name [Chorus] Paper suit man I ain't that now Paper suit man I found a way out Clean hands, clear eyes I stood back up Paper suit man Turned pain to love (to love) [Verse 3] Started that club Chrome and prayer Brothers on bikes With souls laid bare We ride for the ones Still trapped inside Show them the door Show them how to survive I sit with the boys In the county room Tell them the truth It ain't all doom You can break the chain You can change your song One honest step And you're headed home [Bridge] I was nobody Now I'm somebody's dad Somebody's husband That I never had Seventeen years Couldn't keep me down Now I wear my scars Like a king wears a crown [Final Chorus] Paper suit man I ain't that now Paper suit man I found a way out Clean hands, clear eyes I stood back up Paper suit man Turned pain to love Paper suit man Built a life from dust Paper suit man Now they lean on us Clean hands, clear eyes I help them rise Paper suit man I became the man (the man)
