Why I don’t drink

[Verse 1 – The Walk Away]
Mama left one night, said she’d fax and be right back
But that line went dead, and she never came back
I was eight years old, raising kids that weren’t mine
With a stepdad who drank and a world outta line
She called years later, said she’s dating Kid Rock
Said she was twenty-three—time don’t stop
Ten years in the dirt ‘fore I found she passed
Guess that’s the cost when the drugs come fast

⸻

[Chorus]
So don’t hand me a bottle, don’t toast my name
I’ve seen what it does, I don’t play that game
I made it out breathing, I won’t lose it that way
So when you ask me why—I just say:
This is why I don’t drink.

⸻

[Verse 2 – Cash Cow Blues]
Stepdad loved Bud, never loved me much
Fed us raw dogs and spoonfuls of crust
Adopted me for that government pay
But I paid the price in bruises every day
Said I looked like her, so I caught the wrath
Mayonnaise wrong? He’d tear me in half
King Cobra nights, fists would fly
Told school I tripped, they’d just nod and sigh

⸻

[Chorus]
So don’t hand me a bottle, don’t toast my name
I’ve seen what it does, I don’t play that game
I made it out breathing, I won’t lose it that way
So when you ask me why—I just say:
This is why I don’t drink.

⸻

[Verse 3 – Breaking Chains]
At sixteen, I packed my past and ran
Had a knife in my heart and a plan in my hand
Thought about ending him, but I chose me
Walked away instead and finally felt free
Now I got a wife, kids, and a dream I built
Got scars that remind me, but no more guilt
I don’t need a shot to feel alive
I got everything I need just watching my babies thrive

⸻

[Bridge – Redemption Beat]
It ain’t what they did, it’s what I became
A man who broke out of a house of pain
Built a life, a legacy, and beat the odds
Ain’t no whiskey worth trading what I got

⸻

[Final Chorus – Stand Tall]
So don’t hand me a bottle, don’t toast my name
I’ve seen what it does, I don’t play that game
I made it out breathing, I won’t lose it that way
So when you ask me why—I just say:
This is why I don’t drink.

Gritty outlaw country vibe — acoustic grit meets southern stomp., rock, hard rock, end strong not sad