[Intro]
Seatbelt on my heart
Click it, then I start
Heard the phone ring hard
Whole world pulled apart
[Verse 1]
Mama on speaker
Voice thin, off-beat
"Your dad hit head-on
They cut him from the seat"
Dropped my keys, hallway
Felt like wet cement
All the words I never said
Stacked like rent
I was still mad
About last week, last year
All the times he ain't show
All the swallowed tears
But I prayed out loud
In an empty car
"God, don't take him now
We ain't come that far"
[Chorus]
I almost lost my father
With all this anger in my throat
Every curse I ever threw at him
Coulda been the last we spoke
I don't know how to love that man
But I know I ain't ready to part
Metal twisted on that highway
Seatbelt on my heart
[Verse 2]
Hospital hallway
Smell of bleach and fear
Saw him with that neck brace
Tubes, dry lips, gray beard
He joked through the pain
"Guess I finally stopped too fast"
I laughed through a tear
Hiding all our past
All the games he missed
All the "maybe next time"
All the empty chairs
At shows where I tried
To be somebody
He'd brag on, talk proud
Instead we learned silence
Like it was allowed
Standing by his bedside
Hands jammed in my coat
"Yo, you scared me, old man"
Was all I spoke
He said, "Yeah, me too
Got some things we should start"
But that monitor beep
Drowned out his heart
[Chorus]
I almost lost my father
With all this anger in my throat
Every curse I ever threw at him
Coulda been the last we spoke
I don't know how to love that man
But I know I ain't ready to part
Metal twisted on that highway
Seatbelt on my heart
[Bridge]
We ride home in silence
Same blood, different scars
He stares at the window
I stare at the dash and stars
He says, "Son, I'm tryin'
Don't know how to be better"
I just nod, say
"Yeah, we can start with dinner"
It's small, it's nothing
But it's more than before
Almost took him leaving
To crack open that door
[Chorus]