Hellbender

(album: Renewal - 2021)

In the cold early morning in the hills of Kentucky
I woke to the sound of the rain
And the girl from last evening laid silently sleeping
Though I couldn't remember her name
My head was a pounding and the sweat poured
Around me like the faucet that she left on high
With a chip on my shoulder I'm another day older
And I swear I could break down and cry

I Never once made a dollar, which I didn't gamble
Or scramble to burn at both ends
I've raged all night long, in the hour before dawn
On spirits and bitters and blends
What's left of my day might be crimson or
Grey but never again black and white
With a chip on my shoulder I'm another day older
And I swear I could break down and cry

I'm a fool with my money and I'm a fool with
My drinking I'm sinking to bottom of the well
Adding fuel to the fire like my wildest desire
Is to spend the next lifetime in hell
I could cruise down to Hades, in a
Snow white Mercedes and a devilish look in my eye
With a chip on my shoulder I'm another day older
And I swear I could break down and cry

There's a hard place on one side and a
Rock on the other, no corners to cut in this maze
Only one way to do it, just to grin and bear through it
I've been drinking up the courage for days
So I'll drain every cup and keep stacking them up
Till the sun stumbles out of the sky
With a chip on my shoulder I'm another day older
And I swear I could break down and cry

I'll keep on this way till my last dying day
It's a blessing I've tried to disguise
With a chip on my shoulder I'm another day older
And I swear I could break down and cry

[Two verses only performed live once]
There's a worm in the bottle, and I'm racing full throttle
He'll only go down when it's dry
With a chip on my shoulder, I'm another day older
And I swear I could break down and cry

And the weeks like this, I drink like a fish
And occasionally eat like a bird
And I'm not well done [?], just a shooting my second
And I'm already shooting the third