[Intro]
(Lord, look down)
(Hear me now)
I’ve got a folder full of proof and signed degrees
A stack of papers showing everywhere I’ve been
I’ve spent a year down on my calloused knees
But they won’t let the healing even begin
[Verse]
Twelve certificates are taped against the door
Anger management and how to be a dad
I scrubbed the grease and bleached the kitchen floor
I gave them every single thing I had
The caseworker won’t answer when I call
She treats my progress like a clever lie
She’s waiting for the moment that I fall
So she can say another cold goodbye
[Chorus]
Judge, if you won’t put him back into my arms
Don’t let a total stranger take his name
Don’t leave him out to face the world’s alarms
Or let him carry all this heavy shame
His family is waiting, let him go to them
Don’t sell his childhood for a bonus check
Don’t let the legal tide begin to hem
This weight of money 'round his little neck
[Verse]
I know the market price for every broken home
A federal payout for a child they can move
They want to leave him out there all alone
With nothing left for kin or me to prove
It’s trafficking in suits and shiny shoes
They make their profit when the bond is torn
I’m the one they’ve chosen just to lose
Before the child can even start to mourn
[Bridge]
I’m a ghost walking through a hollow house
A shell of a person with nothing left to give
The silence is a scream, I’m quieter than a mouse
I’ve got no reason left to want to live
If he’s not coming back, then let the world just end
I’m sinking in the dirt and mud and rain
There isn't any heart left here to mend
I’m ready now to stop this pulling pain
[Outro]
(Keep him in the bloodline)
(Don't sell him out)
Put him with his kin, Judge
(Read the truth)
I’m disappearing
(I'm gone)
The ink is dry, the system wins
(Lord, have mercy)
I can’t do this anymore
(It's over)
(Mmmmmm)
(Mmmmmm)