I'm the Only One Left at This Party

[Verse 1]
Found a bottle in the rubble, still had a swallow left
Took a sip and gave a toast to everyone I left behind
They said "boy, you're gonna die alone" — hell, that was the plan
Least now I don't gotta share the punch with any other man
Used to have a hundred voices screamin' my name out loud
Now the only thing that calls to me's a hole inside the ground

[Chorus]
And I'm the only one left at this party
The music stopped three towns ago
Someone pulled the plug on the jukebox, honey
But I'm still dancin' slow
Yeah, I'm laughin' but the joke's got no punchline
And the room's so goddamn dark
But I ain't leavin' 'til the whiskey's gone
And I'm the only one left at this party

[Verse 2]
Saw a couple of my old friends hanging from a rafter beam
Told 'em "boys, that's a hell of a way to get out of the clean-up scene"
They didn't laugh. Guess I killed the room.
Struck a match to see my shadow — it was dancin' with a broom
I asked it if it loved me. It just flickered on the wall.
Guess even my own shadow knows I'm bound to fall

[Chorus]

And I'm the only one left at this party
The music stopped three towns ago
Someone pulled the plug on the jukebox, honey
But I'm still dancin' slow
Yeah, I'm laughin' but the joke's got no punchline
And the room's so goddamn dark
But I ain't leavin' 'til the whiskey's gone
And I'm the only one left at this party

[Bridge — spoken, slowing way down]
Y'know... I used to think bein' funny meant somethin'
Like if I could make 'em laugh, they'd stick around
But the desert's got a real dry sense of humor
And right now... [quiet chuckle] ...right now I think I'm the punchline.
I threw the party for myself, you see
Thought if I was loud enough, bright enough, mean enough...
Someone might stay.
[long pause]
But the last guest left about an hour ago.
Took my lighter.
Didn't say goodbye.

[Instrumental break — fiddle and guitar trading sad, drunken lines. A little off-key. A little beautiful.]

[Outro — sung, fading, barely a whisper]
I'm the only one left...
I'm the only one left at this party...
Someone left the door wide open
But the cold don't even start me
I'm just sittin' in the corner
With the ghosts and the debris
I'm the only one left at this party...
[long breath]
...and the party left with me.

[last chord rings out. A single, hollow laugh. Then the sound of a bottle rolling across a wooden floor. Then silence.]

Outlaw Country, male