Jason Isbell - Reunions [feat. the 400 Unit] Album Lyrics

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

Thought I was alone in the world
Until my memories gathered round me in the night
Thought I was strong until I finally had to fight
If I kept my head down
And showed up to work on time
And watched my appetite
Put the money in the mattress
Lock the doors at night
And we'd all be alright

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

See I've made mistakes that I can't erase
Some of the love I've lost will not come back to me
I broke my word
I lied on a Bible just to feel a little free
She didn't deserve it
Nobody ever deserves it
But I caught anchor and I drifted out to sea
And you found me busted
And somehow you trusted I was not what I could be

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

Climb to safety
You and me and the baby
We'll send our thought and prayers
To loved ones on the ground
And as the days went by
We just stopped looking down, down, down
Now the world's on fire and we just climb higher
'Til we're no longer bothered by smoke and sound
Good people suffer and the heart gets tougher
Nothing given, nothing found

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me (somebody save me)
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me (somebody save me)
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help? (What have I done)
What've I done to help? (What have I done)
Somebody save me (somebody, somebody)
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

What've I done to help?
What've I done to help?
Somebody save me
What've I done to help?
What've I done to help but not myself?

I guess we're leaving town again
We're moving out and moving in
Gotta break the news to all my friends
But they won't care

They'll just find another face
To fall behind to take my place
And run way up past second base
And just stand there

A dreamsicle on a summer night
In a folding lawn chair
Witches ring around the moon
Better get home soon

Poison oak and poison ivy
Dirty jokes that blew right by me
Mama curling up beside me
Crying to herself

Why can't daddy just come home?
Forget whatever he did wrong
He's in a hotel all alone
And we need him

A dreamsicle on a summer night
In a folding lawn chair
I'm still packing up my room
Gotta get home soon

New sneakers on a high school court
And you swore you'd be there
A heart breaking through the springtime
Breaking into June

Broken glass and broken vows
I'll be eighteen four years from now
With different friends in a different town
I'll finally be free

Call you both some holiday
Tell you why I moved away
Say everything's gonna be okay
You can come see me

A dreamsicle on a summer night
In a folding lawn chair
Daddy's howling at the moon
Better get home soon

Heat lightning in the evening sky
And my mother's red hair
Hearts breaking through the springtime
Breaking into June
Breaking into June
Breaking into June

Walking around at night
Fighting my appetite
Every kid in cutoffs could be you
Remember when we used to meet
At the bottom of Mobile Street
And do what the broken people do

Are you still taking notes
The Holy Ghost could get inside you
And do whatever you put your mind to
Will you read me what you wrote
When we were locked outside the building
Over-encouraged, only children

Cold coffee on the fire escape
We bet it all on a demo tape
When we still had something left to steal
Remember when we took too much
To get a little of the human touch
Hand to mouth and reel to reel

And are you still taking notes
Hydrocodone in your backpack
Maybe these words will hold the beast back
And will you read me what you wrote
The one I said you stole from Dylan
Over-encouraged, only children

Heaven's wasted on the dead
That's what your mama said
When the hearse was idling in the parking lot
She said you thought the world of me
And you were glad to see
They finally let me be an astronaut

Are you still taking notes
Will you have anyone to talk to
Castle walls that you can walk through
And do the dead believe in ghosts
Or are you lost in some old building
With over-encouraged only children

This used to be a ghost town
But even the ghosts got out
And the sound of the highway died
There's ashes in the swimming pool

I saw you on your wedding night
And I watched you sleeping in my arms
You didn't wash your make-up off
And you woke up looking scared as hell

My love won't change
My love won't change
My love won't change a thing
You're never coming back to me
You're never coming back at all

And the waiter made a young girl cry
At the table next to mine tonight
And I know you would have brought him to his knees
But you're overseas

Doesn't seem so long ago
When we thought that we could change their minds
We'd stay here and fight it out
With a love that we could weaponize

But I saw you losing faith and
I was watching when the light went out
You know what revolution means
And you know it's not an option now

And our love won't change
Our love won't change
Our love won't change a thing
I couldn't leave my father here
To finish up his life alone

And I saw you in our daughters eyes last night
When she caught me in a lie
And I need you here to make both of us believe
But you're overseas

Does your heart rest easy where you are?
And do they treat you like a star?
Or do they call you refugee?
From overseas

Took forever to get you to trust me
Like I was feeding a bird from my hand
And if this isn't love then it must be
Another answer I don't understand
To a prayer that was please, and not thank you
To a question I wrote in the sand
To a wish that I made on a satellite
From a witness in tears on the stand

Running with our eyes closed
Running with our eyes closed

Well you are who you are, when you're angry
When you're scared, or you're sad, or you're bored
When a stranger has slipped you a room key
To a hotel room you couldn't afford

And we can never go back and be strangers
All our secrets are mixed and distilled
But you've taught me to temper my anger
And you've learned it's alright to be still

We're running with our eyes closed
We're running with our eyes closed
Running with our eyes closed
We're running with our eyes closed

Sleeping on my own
When you won't forgive me
Swallowing my pride 'til I nearly choke
Screaming at the phone
When you don't you believe me
And laughing at the joke

We're running with our eyes closed
We're running with our eyes closed
We're running with our eyes closed
We're running with our eyes closed

The river is my savior

'Cause she used to be a cloud

She's happy just to lay there

When she used to be so proud

And even when she dries up a thousand years from now

I'll lay myself beside her and call her name out loud



The river is my savior

The only one I'll ever need

Wash my head when I've been sinning

Wash my knuckles when they bleed

Protect me from my neighbor

All his jealousy and greed

Take the body to the delta

Hide the weapon in the weeds



But now I'm tired and a little bit confused

Regarding what I meant to do and what I did

The men I've hired, they all seem to be afraid of me

They turn their eyes away from me like kids



The river hears my secrets

Things I cannot tell a soul

Like the children that I've orphaned

And the fortune that I stole

The neighbor who asked questions

'Til he washed up on the shore

But I've done the law some favors

So nobody has to know



Now I'm tired and I just can't get to sleep

I've been a wolf among these sheep for all my life

The lake of fire it consumes me in my dreams

And last night I woke up screaming at my wife



The river is my savior

She's running to the sea

And to reach her destination

Is to simply cease to be

And running 'til you're nothing

Sounds a lot like being free

So I'll lay myself inside her

And I'll let her carry me

We've been testing you, and you failed
To see how long that you could sit with the truth but you bailed
I don't think you even recognize the loss of control
I don't think you even see it in yourself
See every one of us is counting dice that we didn't roll
And the loser is the last to ask for help

Be afraid, be very afraid
But do it anyway, do it anyway

The stage belongs to you, and you feel like a star
And you can bark and snap like a dog
At the man who just tuned your guitar
And I don't think you even recognize the kid in the wings
And I don't think you even see her in yourself
She looks to you for what to do with all her delicate dreams
But you're too terrified to be of any help

Be afraid, be very afraid
Do it anyway, do it anyway
Be afraid, be very afraid
Do it anyway, do it anyway

And we don't take requests
We won't shut up and sing
Tell the truth enough
You find it rhymes with everything

We've been testing you and you failed
To see how long that you could hold it in before you screamed
But you only exhaled
I don't think you even recognize the sound of your voice
When its blasting through the speakers in the sky
And if your words add up to nothing
Then you're making a choice to sing a cover
When we need a battle cry

Be afraid, be very afraid
Do it anyway, do it anyway
Be afraid, be very afraid
Do it anyway, do it anyway
Be afraid, be very afraid
Do it anyway, do it anyway
Be afraid, be very afraid
Do it anyway, do it anyway

What do I do to make you smile
You've been hurting for a while
What can I do to make you laugh
Get St. Peter's autograph

What's that distance in your eyes
Has your faith been compromised
What can I do to help you sleep
I'll work hard and work for cheap

Sometimes it's nothing but the way you're wired
And that's not your fault
We're all struggling with the world on fire
And the fear we're taught

Now you've lost another friend
Who couldn't stay to see the end
He had somewhere else to be
Cut him down and burn the tree

There's no shelter from the rain
And I can't comprehend your pain
But I got arms and I got ears
And I will always be right here

Sometimes its nothing but the way you were raised
And that could've been worse
And I see you suffering through the best of days
Still you're putting me first

What do I do to let you know
That I'm not haunted by his ghost
Let him dance around our room
Let him smell of your perfume

Share your best remember whens
And if he comes through here again
Maybe he could make you laugh
Bring St. Peter's autograph

Last night I dreamed that I'd been drinking
Same dream I have 'bout twice a week
I had one glass of wine
I woke up feeling fine
And that's how I knew it was a dream

Last night I dreamed that I'd been drinking
Cold burn of whiskey down my throat
My hand turned into a rattlesnake
And I laughed myself awake
And that's how I knew it was a joke

It gets easier, but it never gets easy
I can say it's all worth it
But you won't believe me
Hold down your liquor
Or swallow your pride
You'd rather keep it inside
It gets easier but it never gets easy

Last night I did myself a favor
I called in sick and went downtown
Drove past the local bar
A cop got behind my car
I wish he would pull me over now
Last night I let myself remember
Times I forgot a woman's name
I blacked out behind the wheel
How tight the handcuffs feel
My daughter's eyes when she's ashamed

It gets easier, but it never gets easy
I can say it's all worth it
But you won't believe me
You can expect her to follow your lead
She's fine with wine and her weed
It gets easier but it never gets easy
It never gets easy

It gets easier, but it never gets easy
I can say it's all worth it but you won't believe me
Hold down your liquor, or swallow your pride
You'd rather keep it inside
It gets easier, but it never gets easy
It never gets easy
It never gets easy

The nurse helped us buckle your seat in the car
And they sent us on our way, I drove home so slow
We had no instructions, the first days were hard
But there's things about babies a woman just knows

Three in the morning
I lay my hand over your heart
Just to know you were safe in your sleep
When you started walking
I fight back the urge to stay right there beside you
And keep you on your feet

Being your daddy comes natural
The roses just know how to grow
It's easy to see that you'll get where you're going
The hard part is letting you go
The hard part is letting you go

It didn't take long to see
You got the best of me
And your momma's merciful heart in your eyes
And helping her raise you
Has taught me to see through the great fog of loneliness
The devil's disguise

Being your daddy comes natural
The roses just know how to grow
It's easy to see that you'll get where you're going
But the hard part is letting you go
The hard part is letting you go

And now you've decided to be someone's wife
And we'll walk down the aisle and I'll give you away
I wish I could walk with them
Back through your life to see
Every last minute of every last day
To hear your first words, and to feel your first heartbreak
To sing you to sleep when you're scared of the dark
The best I can do
Is to let myself trust that you know
Who'll be strong enough to carry your heart

Being your daddy comes natural
The roses just know how to grow
It's easy to see that you'll get where you're going
But the hard part is letting you go
The hard part is letting you go