[Chorus] Everyone expected more from the kid who said he had a whole lot in store But the mic went dead, the room went gray and the good lines slipped away Everyone expected more, I could see it in the front row, in the door I kept singing like it might come back like somebody was still listening to that We hung out in the lot out back with flat beer and a dead-taillight crack I had a voice, just forgot to use the crutch to cut through the hum, the cars, the crush No encore, no big break, no grin just my hands and the dark again Still, I wrote it down on the drive home for the stove light, for my screen gone cold [Chorus] Everyone expected more from the kid who said he had a whole lot in store But the mic went dead, the room went gray and the good lines slipped away Everyone expected more, I could see it in the front row, in the door I kept singing like it might come back like somebody was still listening to that [Bridge] Maybe that’s the thing about it you don’t always get the room you pictured Sometimes you play to a half-lit place and leave with your song still in your jacket [Final Chorus] Everyone expected more and maybe I did too, if I’m being honest, sure But I learned the sound of a shut-down stage and how to carry it anyway Everyone expected more, I still hear it when I’m walking through the door Not a failure, not a final line just a song that took a different kind of time
