[Verse 1]
We signed our names in a county courthouse
Rust on the flag out front
You laughed through the vows, I stared at your dress
Like a man who'd finally won
Then came the pills, then came the monitors
Cold neon hospital hum
One last kiss on your paper-thin hand
And they turned the machines all down
[Chorus]
Now I'm a ghost in my own hometown
Drinking with your empty chair
Talking to the dark like it's a preacher
But the ceiling just stares
You took my heart in that getaway car
When you rode off into the air
I'm still stuck here on this two-lane earth
And you're burning through somewhere
[Verse 2]
I tried the Bible, I tried the bottle
Both of them tasted like dust
Wore out your name on the side of that stone
Till my knees bled into the mud
Sold your boots, kept your wedding band
Hung it from my rearview
Drove too fast at the canyon edge
Prayed I'd miss every curve but a few
[Chorus]
Yeah I'm a ghost in my own hometown
Cursing at the kitchen sink
Coffee gets cold in the same old cup
While your picture just drinks
You took my sleep with that midnight breath
When your chest moved once, then stayed
I'm still doing life in this breathing world
For a crime that mercy made
[Bridge]
Years fell off like paint on the porch
Hair went gray in my beard
Talk of you turned from tears into stories
Till even your voice got hard to hear
Doc shook his head at the shadow on the film
Said, "Son, you better call your kin"
I just smiled, tipped him half a nod
Said, "Hell, it's about time again"
[Chorus]
Now I'm a ghost leaving my hometown
Highway fading in the rain
Kids by the bed with their trembling hands
Trying to bargain with my pain
I feel that chill like a midnight wind
Hear the flatline start to sing
But there's your laugh cutting through the dark
Like a match on gasoline
[Verse 3]
You're leaning there by a busted gate
Boot heel hooked on the wire
Same blue dress from our courthouse day
But the years burned off in the fire
You say, "You took the long way, cowboy"
I say, "Guess I missed my turn"
We both grin at the wreck of my heart
And kick dirt on what we learned
[Chorus]
I was a ghost in my own hometown
Living like a loaded gun
Now I'm just smoke from a pinewood fire
Rising where the rivers run
They'll lay my bones by your marble name
Think the ending's carved in stone
But the twist is this: in the dark they see
Two dates, one home
[Outro]
One cracked slab in a weed-grown yard
Two rings under one sky
They'll say it's sad how love can kill
We’ll laugh and let that rumor ride
'Cause I lost you once on a bright, cruel day
Found you when my breath ran out
Turns out dying was the only road
That finally led me back around
PrinceShawn
