Path Of Hurt We Make

[Verse 1]
Stumbled off the last barstool
Night so thick
It hides my name
Bottle swinging like a lantern
Can’t tell the trees from my shame
Boot prints filling up with water
Wind keeps calling out my sins
Lost my heart back by the highway
Lost my way in my own skin
[Chorus]
Met the devil in the pines
Asked him
"Why you chase me down?"
He just laughed into the dark
Said
"Son
I never ran this town"
"You been walking this same old road
Every promise that you break"
"Ain’t my fire burns you up
It’s the path of hurt you make"
[Verse 2]
Branches grab my broken jacket
Like the past that won’t let go
Every name I ever cursed on
Echoes soft beneath the snow
Thought I felt his hot breath on me
Turned around
Saw only me
Just a shadow leaning sideways
Begging shadows to set me free
[Chorus]
Met the devil in the pines
Asked him
"Why you chase me down?"
He just laughed into the dark
Said
"Son
I never ran this town"
"You been walking this same old road
Every promise that you break"
"Ain’t my fire burns you up
It’s the path of hurt you make"
[Bridge]
He said
"You drink ’cause your heart’s been shattered (oh yeah)
Then you shatter every heart you find
Blame my name when the glass gets scattered
But you’re the storm inside your mind"
[Chorus]
Met the devil in the pines
Asked him
"Why you chase me down?"
He just laughed into the dark
Said
"Son
I never wore your crown"
"You keep carving your own graveyard
With each little love you waste"
"It ain’t me that drags you under
It’s the hurt that you embrace"
[Outro]
So I’m standing in those dark woods
Moonlight trembling on my face
If I ever find forgiveness
It’ll be for the lives I chased

Slow Chicago blues shuffle at 72 BPM, gravelly male vocals. Hollow-body guitar with lazy bends, upright bass walking in the pocket, brushed snare. Organ pads creep in by the second verse, distant slide guitar answering vocal phrases. Choruses lift with tight three-part harmonies and a dirtier amp tone, last line hangs in a long reverb tail for a haunted aftertaste., chicago blues