3 Lives

(Verse 1)

The chapel bells were still a-echoin'

In the summer Georgia air

You slipped a golden promise on my hand

And swore you'd always care

We planted dreams in every room

Of this old house we made a home

Two hearts beatin' on the same tune

Never thinkin' to be alone.

(Chorus)

Oh, we wanted a love that would multiply

A little cry beneath this sky

But the months turned to years, and the silence grew loud

Just a hope and a prayer inside a lonely crowd.

(Verse 2)

I wrote the letters I never sent

To a name I hadn't said

My brother up in Memphis

A wall of foolish pride we'd built instead

But desperate hearts make bridges

Over canyons deep and wide

He came with science and a secret

And a promise he would try.

(Chorus)

‘Cause we wanted a love that would multiply

A little cry beneath this sky

But the world don't see a healing, a sacred, silent fight

All they saw was a strange car in my driveway at night.

(Verse 3)

I saw the shadow in your eyes, dear

A coldness where the warmth had been

The whispers of the busybodies

Slippin' poison under your skin

I should have reached right out and told you

But I wanted it to be a surprise

A positive test on a coffee table

With the sunrise in your eyes.

(Bridge)

The door blew open like a thunderclap

A twisted truth you thought you knew

No time for words, just a blind, black rage

And the bark of a gun, not one shot, but two

And the secret that I carried

The new life just begun

Was buried with me on the floorboards

By the barrel of your jealous gun.

(Outro)

You found my diary, my desperate pages

The whole story plain and true

My brother's visits, the treatments, the hope

The little heartbeat we made, me and you

Now you're shackled to the truth, son

In a prison you designed

With three ghosts in an empty nursery

And a life sentence on your mind.