Neon on My Memory

Title: Neon on My Memory (The First Song Michael McGilton Ever Wrote)

This is the very first song Michael McGilton ever wrote, and I’m proud as hell to sing it for him tonight.

I pulled into this honky-tonk on fumes and a prayer
Tail lights burnin’ red through the cigarette air
She was dancin’ by the jukebox in them faded blue jeans
Same smile that wrecked me back when I was nineteen

That neon on my memory won’t dim or burn out
It flickers like Friday nights when the world spun slow
One look and I’m right back there, beer in my hand
Fallin’ all over again for the girl who won’t let go

I tried lovin’ in Dallas, tried runnin’ in Cheyenne
Put three hundred thousand miles on this old truck and this man
But every mile marker whispers her name in the wind
And every barstool I sit on feels like where we’ve already been

That neon on my memory won’t dim or burn out
It’s brighter than whiskey, louder than the crowd
I hear Brooks & Dunn singin’ ‘bout her leavin’ me flat
And damn if that steel guitar don’t take me right back

I ain’t askin’ for forever, Lord, I learned that’s a lie
Just one more slow dance ‘fore I tell her goodbye
If she walks past this table and pretends she don’t see
I’ll raise this longneck to the ghost still lovin’ me

‘Cause that neon on my memory won’t dim or burn out
It glows like the cross on the water tower outside of town
If lovin’ her is wrong, I don’t wanna be right
I’ll be here ‘til the bartender turns on them lights

Yeah, that neon on my memory…
Is the only light still burnin’ for me

(Thanks, Michael. First songs hit different. This one’s a classic already.)