Pitch-Ready Lyric Sheet
(Track Time Target: 3:45 – 4:10)
[Intro]
(Screaming vocal cue over heavy distorted riff and pounding, slow-driving drums)
Why’d you wake me up?!
[Verse 1]
Alarm screams 4 AM, staring at the fan again
Neck locked tight, back on fire, held together by rusted wire
Two bad hernias dragging me down
Every step’s a war as I crawl through town
Trying to make it through the night asking why
You wake me up just so I can fight?
[Pre-Chorus]
(Bass and drums build intensity)
Lord, I’m tired—more tired than I’ve ever been
Some mornings I don’t know if I’ve got the strength to start again
[Chorus]
(Full band explodes — heavy guitars, wide stereo mix)
Why’d you wake me up if all I’m gonna do is hurt?
Pull these boots back on and crawl through twelve more hours of dirt
Welding torch is screaming and my body’s falling apart
Scars across my chest and a thousand more on my heart
I ain’t saying I wanna die, I just don’t wanna hurt this way
Some days I whisper to the morning light: please don’t make me face today
[Verse 2]
(Rhythm section stays heavy, half-time feel)
Dad’s been gone since twenty-two, Mom’s passing still cuts through
Voices echo in my head like ghosts I can’t leave behind
Brenna acts like I ain't here, Piper barely comes around
But I love them more than words can say, and I miss them every day
[Verse 3]
My brother Eric won’t talk to me, family hears the rumors spread
Never ask the truth, just judge me inside their heads
They see the pills and the way I move
Think I’m back on things I never proved
Talking behind my back instead of asking why
While I’m fighting pain that would make most men cry
Still I punch that clock, still I grind and bleed
’Cause people depend on me even when I’m running empty
[Chorus]
Why’d you wake me up if all I’m gonna do is hurt?
Pull these boots back on and crawl through twelve more hours of dirt
Welding torch is screaming and my body’s falling apart
Scars across my chest and a thousand more on my heart
I ain’t saying I wanna die, I just don’t wanna hurt this way
Some days I whisper to the morning light: please don’t make me face today
[Bridge]
(Dynamic Drop — Guitars cut to clean acoustic, soft kick drum, intimate lead vocal)
But then I think about Jackie and the life we built somehow
Grandbabies running in the yard and the memories that make me smile now
Maybe that’s the reason You keep waking me again
’Cause somebody needs a fighter… even when he's barely hanging in
[Guitar Solo]
(Searing, emotional southern-rock solo — acoustic transitions back into screaming electrics, building peak tension)
[Outro]
(Tempo holds heavy, vocals stripped down, raw grit)
So I’ll get up one more morning though every bone says stay
I’ll drag this broken body through another working day
And if You hear me, Lord, just give me enough strength to stand
’Cause I’m tired of being iron…
(Full band crash / hard sudden pause)
…but I’m still trying to be a man.
(Fade out on heavy low-end rhythm guitar and amplifier feedback)
matthew_Awbrey_Texas
