Verse 1
Blood in my mouth, spit red on the ground
Been walking this parking lot round and round
Knuckles split open, don’t ask me why
There’s a busted Budweiser by the passenger side
Cold wind cutting straight through my coat
I light one up off the end of the smoke
Everybody left, even trouble went home
I’m kicking at gravel and talking alone
Chorus
Three dead soldiers in a paper sack
Two white rails and a seat leaned back
Last call came, last call went
I don’t know where the whole damn night got spent
No, I ain’t on a ledge, I ain’t saying goodbye
Just too fucked up to sleep tonight
This town went dark, but I’m plain awake
Jaw locked down while my whole head shakes
Plain awake
Just waiting for the daylight to break
Verse 2
Your name starts buzzing beside the gearshift
I know damn well why you’re calling this late
Probably heard what happened, probably heard it wrong
Probably know me well enough to know it ain’t
I turn it facedown, watch the screen go black
Some calls you make, you can’t take back
So I sit with the heater blowing cold
Twenty-eight years old, feeling eighty years old
Chorus
Three dead soldiers in a paper sack
Two white rails and a seat leaned back
Last call came, last call went
I don’t know where the whole damn night got spent
No, I ain’t on a ledge, I ain’t saying goodbye
Just too fucked up to sleep tonight
This town went dark, but I’m plain awake
Jaw locked down while my whole head shakes
Bridge
At four-fifteen the cleaning guy comes
Dragging black bags out one by one
Looks at my face, looks at my hands
Says, “You alright?”
I say, “Yeah, man.”
We both know better.
He lets it slide.
That might be the kindest thing
Anybody’s done all night.
Final Chorus
Three dead soldiers in a paper sack
Two white rails and the sun coming back
Last call’s gone, now the sky turns gray
Making every bad decision look worse in the day
No, I ain’t found God, I ain’t seen the light
I just made it through another stupid night
Whole town waking, I’m plain awake
Coffee tastes like shit and my hands still shake
Outro
Turn the key—
Truck coughs twice
Your name’s still there
I let it light
Pull onto the road
Sun in my face
No lesson learned
No saving grace
Just three dead soldiers
And one plain awake.