Shadows on the Southside

(Verse 1)

Woke up this mornin’, sky hangin’ low and gray,

Yeah, I woke up this mornin’, sky hangin’ low and gray.

Wind rollin’ down old Congress,

Whisperin’ names that slipped away.

(Verse 2)

I hear that thunder in my heart,

Like Stevie’s Strat cryin’ through the rain.

Yeah, thunder in my heart,

Like that six-string screamin’ out my pain.

Lost too many good-time brothers

To that slow, burnin’ poison flame.

(Chorus)

Got the Southside shadows trailin’ me,

Every step I take tonight.

Yeah, these Southside shadows trailin’ me,

Where my friends once burned so bright.

Now it’s just me and this guitar,

Tryin’ to hold back the night.

(Verse 3)

We used to jam ‘til sunrise,

Whiskey laughs, that wild-eyed grin.

Man, we’d jam ‘til sunrise,

Never thinkin’ we couldn’t win.

But the bottle don’t play fair—

It always gets the last spin.

(Bridge (Slow Burn))

If heaven’s got a stage light,

Turn it blue and make it shine.

Yeah, if heaven’s got a stage light,

Let ‘em bend those notes divine.

I hope they hear me down here tremblin’,

Tryin’ to keep their soul in mine.

(Chorus)

Got the Southside shadows trailin’ me,

Every step I take tonight.

Yeah, these Southside shadows trailin’ me,

Where my friends once burned so bright.

Now it’s just me and this guitar,

Tryin’ to hold back the night.

(Outro (SRV-style turnaround))

So I’ll let this old guitar cry,

Let it sing what words can’t say.

For every friend I lost to darkness—

I’ll bend these strings their way.