Hurt in the Dirt

[intro – spoken] I’m still standing where we used to ride… same trails, same air… but without you, everything hurts. [verse 1 – melodic metal ballad] Every mile of this town feels like you’re haunting me, your boots in the mud, your laugh in the pines, you’re all I see. I still feel the dust from your last ride settle on my skin, like the world didn’t get the memo that you’re never coming back again. Your name is carved in every sunrise breaking through the trees, every shadow feels like you reaching back for me. Brother, the ground remembers you better than anyone alive, and I keep walking through the dirt you left, just trying to survive. [pre-chorus – high-note belt] I never got to say goodbye— so I scream it to the sky… [chorus – soaring metal + long vocal holds] I’m hurt in the dirt, where your boots used to stand, hurt in the dirt, trying to hold what I can. This ground knows your heartbeat, this earth knows your name, and I’m stuck in the place where everything changed. Hurt in the dirt… hurt in the dirt. [verse 2 – country-rock rap × emotional delivery] I’m back on those backroads, where we built our whole life, now I’m talking to the silence, asking if you’re alright. Memories hit harder than a damn freight train, your ghost riding shotgun while I’m gripping the pain. I see your shadow in the treeline, feel your voice on the breeze, brother, death stole you from me but it didn’t take the keys. I’m driving through the heartache, every mile a curse, your absence is a sermon and the dirt is the church. [pre-chorus – metal swell] I lost you once… I lose you again every morning. [chorus – bigger / stronger] I’m hurt in the dirt, where your boots used to stand, hurt in the dirt, trying to breathe through the sand. This ground holds the echoes that I can’t erase, and no matter where I go I still end up in this place. Hurt in the dirt… hurt in the dirt. [guitar + electric violin break – crying tone] [violin finger-picking → bending into metal guitar harmony → distortion bloom] [bridge – violent grief / cinematic climb] I claw at the earth like I could pull you back, rage in my fists, grief in my chest like an attack. If the sky had a door I’d break it down bare-handed, drag you out of heaven just to finish what we started. The dirt soaked the tears I never let fall, I’m bleeding through the memory of your last call. Brother, I’m cracked… but I ain’t collapsing. [final chorus – highest belts + violin harmonies] I’m hurt in the dirt, where you left me behind, hurt in the dirt, losing pieces of my mind. But I’ll stand in the dust ‘til my heartbeat stops, ‘cause love doesn’t die even when your body drops. Hurt in the dirt… and I’ll meet you again… in the dirt. [outro – spoken over ambient violin] Until then, brother… I’ll walk these trails alone.