Verse 1
Big Bear winter, cold bedroom wall
Learned real young how to duck when fists fall
Sixteen years deep in a house full of fear
Packed up my hurt, said I’m outta here
Told my friends, said I’m leavin’ town
Hair-brained dream, no map, no plan written down
Girls said they’re in, we’ll meet at dawn
Sun came up… my best friend was gone
Pre-Chorus
Three kids standin’ at a mountain stop
Hearts beat fast like they might just pop
Didn’t know where the road would run
Just knew we were done
Chorus
We were sixteen and gone
Running on fumes and a rebel song
Lake Arrowhead to the Arizona line
Red Silverado and borrowed time
No phones, no plan, just desert sky
Trying to outrun the pain inside
Yeah we thought we were strong
We were just sixteen and gone
⸻
Verse 2
Hotel room laughin’, bed sheet cape
Told my girl I was Batman, planning our escape
Jumped on the mattress, landed at her feet
For a minute that world felt sweet
Next morning I “found” them Silverado keys
Like freedom was parked there waitin’ on me
Filled it up once, then twice that day
Gas gauge fallin’ like our getaway
Diesel letters written on the side of the can
In the back of that truck, I can’t believe it ran
“Oh …fuck…” echo in the heat
Regular gas and prayin’ feet
Bought a station dry tryin’ to roll
Didn’t get far — so I let that truck go
Chorus
We were sixteen and wild
Hitchhikin’ on fumes like a runaway child
Lake Havasu dust in our hair
London Bridge and a desert prayer
Stealin’ curtains just to stay warm
Tryin’ to survive our own damn storm
Yeah we thought we were strong
We were just sixteen and gone
⸻
Bridge (strip it down, acoustic)
Cans in a bag for a burger and fries
Stealin’ souvenirs to stay alive
Best friend’s girl broke first, called back home
Said this ain’t freedom, this is alone
My girl looked tired, I knew it too
This wild west dream was fallin’ through
Dialed a number I barely knew
Hadn’t heard her voice in a year or two
“Mom… can you come?”
Sirens blue.
⸻
Verse 3
Police lights flashin’ on the store front side
Looked ‘em in the eyes, said “Where’s your ride?”
Separate cells, eight hours long
Peelin’ paint while the night crawled on
My girl’s mama said I’d rot in jail
She wasn’t wrong, I had derailed
My mother showed up — didn’t say much
Cops Made me clean the mess I’d touched
Final Chorus (bigger)
We were sixteen and gone
Running from fists and broken homes
From Big Bear cold to desert heat
Barefoot kids on borrowed streets
Thought freedom meant never lookin’ back
Turns out freedom ain’t built like that
Yeah we thought we were strong
We were just sixteen and gone
I never went back to that mountain house
Never heard that anger shout
No more black eyes, no more lies
No more “son, you slipped outside”
My bones healed up, the cuts turned thin
But I still remember what he did
I was standin’ at the end of me
And that road meant him or me
It was him or me.
nightwerks
