Driving Through the Dark

[Verse 1]
Coffee’s gone cold
Sun’s barely up
She’s tying that scarf
’round the pill box and the cup
She smiles like it’s Sunday
Says, “Go make that run”
But I see her hands shaking
When she reaches for my thumb
[Chorus]
I’m driving through the dark
To keep the lights on back home
Burning up my body
So she don’t fight it alone
Every mile I take
Feels like losing you in parts
I’m working double time
And paying with my heart
[Verse 2]
Radiation Tuesdays
Payday’s always late
I kiss her in the driveway
Taste metal, fear, and faith
Truck cab full of overtime
Paperwork and prayers
Her name on that clipboard
My name in the air
[Chorus]
I’m driving through the dark
To keep the lights on back home
Burning up my body
So she don’t fight it alone
Every mile I take
Feels like losing you in parts
I’m working double time
And paying with my heart
[Bridge]
What good is all this money
If the cost of it is you? (oh baby)
I’d trade every last mile
For one day we didn’t lose
But the rent and the medicine
Both come due at once
So I crawl back in that cab
And I bleed into the front
[Chorus]
I’m driving through the dark
To keep the lights on back home
Burning up my body
So she don’t fight it alone
If I beat that clock
Maybe time won’t pull us apart
I’m working double time
And paying with my heart
Yeah I’m working double time
And praying for your heart

country, Slow, swampy dark country blues in 6/8 with upright bass and a low, resonant male vocal. Fingerpicked resonator guitar and brushed snare shuffle under a sparse organ pad. Verses stay hushed and intimate; chorus opens with thicker harmonies and a subtle slide guitar answering the vocal. Final chorus leans into cracked, emotional delivery with a lingering guitar tail., country blues