Small Town Scapegoat

[Verse 1]
Hand-me-down shoes
Names carved into the old desk wood
Teacher said
"She’s trouble"
Like the whole town always knew I would
Mama staring past me
Ashtray full
TV glow
I learned to pour the bottles
Before I learned to tie a bow
[Chorus]
I was a small town scapegoat
They threw their blame like stones
Little girl on the front line
Fighting grown-up wars alone
Yeah
They wrote my story
Before my heart had even grown
I did the time for all their crimes
And I walked that road alone
[Verse 2]
Sneakin' out the window
To anyone who said my name soft
Thought a rough hand on my shoulder
Might be the love I never got
Blue lights in the rearview
Cold cuffs on my wrists
Judge read out my sentence
Like my life was just a list
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
[low vocal register]
I wasn't born bad
I was just born there
Where every crying child
Is one more cross to bear
[voice cracks
Pushed]
They said "You get what you give"
But I gave all I had
Just a kid in the chaos
Paying bills for the past
[guitar solo]
[Chorus]

rock, Gritty blues-rock ballad with female vocals; slow swing groove that builds from bare slide guitar and brushed snare into a heavy, overdriven chorus. Verse 1 stays intimate with roomy drums and tremolo guitar; chorus slams with stacked vocal doubles, organ swells, and a singing lead guitar line shadowing the hook. Bridge drops to bass, rim clicks, and reverb-soaked guitar before a final full-band, shout-along chorus., blues