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Lyrics
[Verse 1]
First time I saw my name
Flicker on that dead-end bar sign
Thought it meant I’d outrun
Every backroad
Every hard time
Left mama in the doorway
Left my brother with the bills
Said “I’ll come back richer”
Chasing cheap-stage thrills
[Chorus]
Now I’m a ghost on the marquee
Letters burned out over me
Just a shadow in a doorway
Wet cardboard underneath my knees
If you ever hear this old song
On a static AM wave
Tell my younger self I’m sorry
Tell my past to forgive the grave
[Verse 2]
I traded good Sunday mornings
For last call smoke in my lungs
Sold a gold high school promise
For strangers mouthing along
Six strings and a suitcase
Full of lies I called a plan
Broke hearts like guitar strings
Trying to be “the front man”
[Chorus]
Now I’m a ghost on the marquee
Letters burned out over me
Just a shadow in a doorway
Wet cardboard underneath my knees
If you ever hear this old song
On a static AM wave
Tell my younger self I’m sorry
Tell my past to forgive the grave
[Bridge]
I see that kid in the mirror of a rain-streaked window
Twenty-two
Full of gasoline and grace
Wish I’d told him
“Call your father
Hold your mother
Dream small
Love deep
Stay in one place” (oh)
All these miles for a bed of stone and splinters
All this pride for an empty stage
[Chorus]
Now I’m a ghost on the marquee
Letters burned out over me
Just a shadow in a doorway
Talking to the man I used to be
If you ever hear this old song
On a static AM wave
Tell my younger self I’m sorry
Tell my past to forgive the grave
Details
GeneratedJan 21, 2026
Duration3:24
LanguageEnglish
Style
rock, Dusty alt-country rock with male vocals, rattling Telecaster twang and low-tuned baritone guitar. Kick and floor tom stomp like worn boots on a barroom floor, bass lopes behind. Verses stay close and hushed with brushed snare and organ pads; chorus swells with harmony, overdriven slide, and wide reverb. Bridge drops to near a cappella, then band slams back in for a ragged, cathartic final hook., country, country rock
Credits
Prompt by
ThePumpkinKing
ThePumpkinKingModelAria v5
Prompt
Alt-Country Rock Americana Gothic Country about man who left everyone behind to be a singer in a band just to end up broken, homeless, and reflecting back on the mistakes to tell his past to forgive
