The Whiskey Tastes Like Company Tonight

[Verse 1]
Bar's been empty since sundown
Bartender locked up hours ago
But I found the key under the floorboard
And a bottle that ain't labeled, so
Who's to say I'm not allowed?
Ain't nobody else around

[Chorus]
The whiskey tastes like company tonight
Like a friend who won't ask questions
Like a woman who won't fight
It don't laugh at my jokes, no
But it don't cry when I'm wrong
The whiskey tastes like company tonight
So I'll just sit here, sing my songs
[long, slow sip]

[Verse 2]
Used to have a whole damn crowd
Used to have a reason for the noise
Now I'm pourin' one for the ceiling
And another one for the boys
The boys who ran, the boys who died
The boys who finally had enough and left me here to hide

[Chorus]

The whiskey tastes like company tonight
Like a friend who won't ask questions
Like a woman who won't fight
It don't laugh at my jokes, no
But it don't cry when I'm wrong
The whiskey tastes like company tonight
So I'll just sit here, sing my songs
[long, slow sip]

[Bridge — spoken, barely above a whisper]
Y'know what's worse than bein' alone?
beat
Bein' alone and knowin' why.
[quiet laugh, no joy in it]
I chased 'em all off. Every last one.
Figured if I was the funniest guy in the room, they'd stay.
Turns out... [swallows] ...funny runs out.

[Instrumental break — just fiddle and a single guitar. Long. Lonely.]

[Outro — sung, cracking]
The whiskey tastes like company tonight
But even whiskey's got a limit
And mine's about to quit the light
I'll just sit here in the dark now
With the bottle and the flies
The whiskey tastes like company tonight...
[whispered]
...ain't that a goddamn lie.

[last chord rings out. A long exhale. Then the sound of a bottle being set down empty.]

Outlaw Country, Tempo: slow, lonesome. Walking bass line. Fiddle weeping in the background, male