<SONG_DETAILS> [GENRE: Texas blues, blues-rock, electric blues] [ERA: late-60s/early-70s analog blues-rock] [INSTRUMENTATION: overdriven electric guitar, Hammond B3 organ, brushed shuffle drums] [MOOD: solitary midnight highway turning toward dawn] [TEMPO: 108 BPM, driving mid-tempo shuffle] [KEY: E minor] [VOCALS: male vocals, weathered baritone, swaggering verses, powerful soulful chorus] [EXCLUSIONS: no polished pop sheen, replace with gritty vintage blues-rock texture; no electronic drums, replace with live brushed percussion; no lush orchestral pads, replace with focused guitar and organ movement] </SONG_DETAILS> [Verse 1] There’s a county line burning underneath the moon A busted radio is howling out of tune I got no map, no witness, no reason to explain Just a cracked windshield shining with the coming rain [Chorus] I wear a blacktop halo Dust around my name Every mile takes something Every mile leaves flame [Post-Chorus] I don’t know where I’m headed But I know what I outran If the night wants a believer The night can take me as I am [Verse 2] A preacher at the truck stop tried to sell me peace I told him peace was something I had never seen He laughed and poured his coffee like he knew the score Then asked me why I kept on knocking at a locked door [Chorus] I wear a blacktop halo Dust around my name Every mile takes something Every mile leaves flame [Post-Chorus] I don’t know where I’m headed But I know what I outran If the night wants a believer The night can take me as I am [Bridge] No chain, no crown No roots beneath this town Let the rearview hold the past Let the engine shake it loose at last [Verse 3] At dawn I see a river split the fields in two The water carries pieces of the sky’s cold blue I pull beside the railing, let the motor die For the first time in a long time, I don’t ask why [Final Chorus] I wore a blacktop halo Dust around my name Every mile took something Every mile left flame [Post-Chorus] I still don’t know my ending But I know where I stand If the day wants a believer The day can take me as I am [Outro] As I am As I am The day can take me as I am
