[Spoken grizzled voice]
Life goes by too damn fast I tell ya...
[Intro – Guitar Riff over Am – G – D – Am]
[Lead Guitar: Slide bends over Am pentatonic]
[Organ fades in warm and low]
---
[Verse 1 – Am – G – D – Am]
[Mid-range vocal, mellow tone]
I ain't a kid, but I ain’t grown
[Slide guitar lick fills between lines]
Still don’t like bein’ left alone
Got old friends I still toast to
Some gone quick, some I outgrew
[Pause in music, vocal almost spoken]
One’s in prison, one’s in dirt
All of ‘em still fuckin’ hurt
---
[Pre-Chorus – C – G – D – Am]
[Falsetto cracks on “do”]
[Light organ swell]
I don’t know what the hell I’m s’posed to do
Life don’t wait—it just rolls on through
---
[Chorus – F – G – Am – Am]
[Full band in, vocals growl and stretch]
It’s all too damn fast
Can’t slow it down
One foot in heaven
The other buried in this town
Yeah, I try to laugh
But the past don’t play fair
[Backing vocals: “Don’t play fair…”]
Feels like joy just disappears
Right into thin air
---
[Verse 2 – Am – G – D – Am]
[Cleaner vocal, slight drawl]
Made a friend from work last spring
Helps me forget some goddamn things
But they don’t know I dream of Cobain
Or how Marilyn drowned in pills and shame
[Slide guitar echoes her name]
I show up, I get paid
But every joke hides a fuckin' ache
---
[Pre-Chorus – C – G – D – Am]
[Half-spoken, low voice]
I sing for ghosts in empty bars
[Slide guitar: High-pitched response]
And keep their names in my guitar
---
[Chorus – F – G – Am – Am]
[Drums louder, organ hums heavy]
It’s all too damn fast
Like a firework fade
One moment they’re smilin’
Next I’m kneelin’ at their grave
Yeah, I move on
But it don’t feel like I should
[Backing vocals: “Don’t feel good…”]
When the best years hurt worse
Than the bad ones ever could
---
[Bridge – Dm – C – G – Am]
[Guitar solo – dirty bends, tone rises under]
[Spoken word – gravel voice]
Brian got clean just long enough
To call me up, then lost his luck
Said “Meet me, brother,” I said “soon”
Then he shot up his arm that afternoon
[Band drops to just guitar and organ]
Now I light a match for every name
But none of it brings back a damn thing
---
[Final Chorus – F – G – Am – Am]
[Full emotion, falsetto peaks on “fast” and “last”]
It’s all too damn fast
Ain’t no brakes on this ride
I’m too young to feel this old
But too old to fuckin' hide
I keep smilin’
But that don’t mean I’m okay
[Backing: “Don’t mean I’m okay…”]
Some days I shine
Most nights I fade
---
[Outro – Am – G – D – Am (repeat & fade)]
[Guitar: Slow, crying slide]
[Vocal: whispered or hoarse]
Still here. Still missin’.
Still prayin’ for somethin’ that listens.
DCBROOKS