Silas Crowe - Bent-Back Boy With A Borrowed Name

Mama called me trouble, Daddy called me late. I learned young how to gamble With the things you can’t replace. Got a bent-back way of walkin’, And a borrowed name to blame, But the world still knows exactly Who I am beneath the shame. I’m a bent-back boy With a borrowed name. Play my harp like confession, And it never sounds the same. If redemption’s in the distance, Hell, I’ll limp there all the same, I’m a bent-back boy With a borrowed name. I been walkin’ through the alleys Where the broke men go to hide, Where the shadows chew your secrets ’Til there’s nothing left inside. Left my footprints in the mud, Rain keeps wash-in’ out my claim, But every line upon my spine Still curves back toward that shame. Got a pocket full of letters From the man I might’ve been, All the futures that I folded Just to tuck beneath my skin. If tomorrow brings a blessing, Well, I’ll take it all the same, But these bent-back blues keep draggin’ On the edges of my name. I’m a bent-back boy With a borrowed name. Play my harp like confession, And it never sounds the same. If redemption’s in the distance, Hell, I’ll limp there all the same, I’m a bent-back boy With a borrowed name. If my bones could speak, they’d whisper All the things I tried to hide, How a boy becomes a burden When he’s bent from too much pride. But this harmonica keeps beggin’ For the truth I can’t reclaim, So I breathe out everything I’m not, And bend into my name. Had a preacher try to save me, Had a gambler teach me loss, Had a woman try to leave me But she turned around and crossed Every promise she remembered On the altar of my blame, Said, “You’re worth more than you think you are,” But I still feel the same. I’m a bent-back boy With a name that ain’t mine, Blow my harmonica through the heartache, Let it cut clean every line. If salvation’s on the horizon, I’ll crawl there just the same, Still a bent-back boy With a borrowed name.