Zach Bryan - The Great American Bar Scene Album Lyrics

If I'm lucky enough, I'll see fogs lift with suns
As we roll to play a show in Carolina, Oklahoma or Chicago
I'll grow to know the road to home in places far away
Wrinkled, bald and beat to shit to never waste a day
Enough people will hate me that I know I did it right
But to never meet a human being that I say that I don't like
Let me learn the hard way and cut it close sometimes
That youth is the attic chest where every lesson lies
I'll have some kids and teach them that we are all the same
Sufferin', the smilin', silhouettes of every passin' day
The love I have will always be something my friends yearn
My memories were never cheap and never easy earned
I hope to choke on Jack and Coke in a bar during northern winter
On a night the band was tight and right as rooftop lights flicker
If I'm lucky enough, I'll understand losing someone close
I'll clench my teeth on New Year's Eve and try to talk to ghosts
I'll stumble through a market on a Sunday in June
Smell the salt and asphalt on Sunday afternoon
I reckon I'd be lucky if I made it half as far
To only die on hills that are closest to my heart
If I'm lucky enough, notebooks will be strewn across my room
I'll play catch on green grass where springtime flowers bloom
If I'm lucky enough, I'll tell the truth every chance I get
'Cause smiles faked to appease another is worth ten regrets
If I'm lucky enough, I will get through hard things
And they will make me gentle to the ways of the world
If I'm lucky enough, I'll have the courage to leave and go
Wherever my beatin' heart tells me to go
If I'm lucky enough, I'll get high and invite a guitar player over
And he'll play sweet notes until a New York City-rooftop sun rises
I'll meet some kids in school that still know how to play instruments
If I'm lucky enough, I'll make it exactly to where I'm taking this breath now
Lay my head upon the earth and laugh at passing clouds
If I'm lucky enough, I'll remember the shaky things we've seen
Grab your beer through tears and fears, the great American bar scene

Took a few years to get here, brother
Greens are greener in the heat of summer
Calmness on this evenin' seems a drug
Graham and Lucas are havin' kids
While Steve's busy raising his
While I climb out a hole I never dug
Likely there's a spot twenty minutes or so
We used to get wasted ridin' rodeo
Now it's all mechanical bull

Are the old ways dead or livin' in my head?
There's a smile on a photo catchin' dust in your old apartment
Are the old ways dead or livin' in my head?
It's all veneer and up from here, so take a rest

So I'll set off runnin' like I said I's gonna and find another rodeo
I'm a mechanical bull, throw a quarter and watch me go
And I get a little sad in the evenings knowin' I'll never get a beatin'
Like bein' young and dumb again in this life's long rodeo
Maybe I'll move to Texas, let my soul grow bored and restless
And learn to rope and ride like Le Gros
Maybe I'll learn the mando' and to pick a banjo too
Ride all night on the highways like Two-Show

Are the old ways dead or livin' in my head?
There's a smile on a photo catchin' dust in your old apartment
Are the old ways dead or livin' in my head?
It's all veneer and up from here, so take a rest
It's all veneer and up from here, so take a rest
It's all veneer and up from here, so take a rest

Took a few years to get here, brother
Greens are greener in the heat of summer
Calmness on this evenin' seems a drug

I lost my money to some dirty old bookie
Way up in Philly, he was a bad man
But you can't bet your life on the table
When you've got yourself a bad hand
So I went and got my good friend Mickey
And we made ourselves a bold stand
Wound up bleedin' on the bar floor
And we don't bet on ball no more

Where the bets are tough and bartenders mean
The great American bar scene

My brother from Tulsa has got himself a warrant
But he's on the run up in Cheyenne
They hemmed me up and asked me some questions
But I ain't no damn rat, man

Put cuffs on so tight he started bleedin'
From his wrist down through to his right hand
Put "State Trooper" on the record machine
The great American bar scene

Neon lightin', wooden floors lightly
As her feet quietly slide across
Tough boys have all came and went
She's a Heaven-sent and I'm at a loss

So if you've got the time, I've got the quarter
And a two-steppin' song called "Hey Porter"
Why's love always feel like a fever dream
In the great American bar scene?

My heart stays hurtin' and hands stay workin'
And I'm still just a sinnin' man
I've tried like hell to keep my health
Treat others well and understand

Why life's so unfair, uncertain and mean
In the great American bar scene

You took a train to the south side of Boston
You showed me where your old man stayed
Took twenty-eight years of blood I was lost in
To feel loved on my own birthday
And I always felt like I's in between somethin'
Like home and somewhere far away
But tonight on the west side in a bar out in Brooklyn
I saw tears outline your face

How lucky are we?
It's been a hell of a week, but you're all grown now
There's smoke seepin' out of your bloody teeth
But you're home somehow

And I'll be upstairs with the guitar I's given
When I was barely fourteen
When did McGlinchey's get so crowded
And why are the crowds so damn green?
I lost my mind on the streets of the city
And maybe I lost all hope too
Took twenty-eight years of blood pumpin' through me
To get to this evening with you

How lucky are we?
It's been a hell of a week, but we're all grown now
There's smoke seepin' out of the bar down the street
But we're home somehow

How lucky are we?
It's been a hell of a week and we're all grown now
There's smoke seepin' out of the bar down the street
But we're home somehow

You took a train to the south side of Boston
You showed me where your whole heart stayed
Took twenty-eight years of blood pumpin' through me
To feel loved on my own birthday

Screen door cracked, the ball game on
Man on the porch singin' baritone
Tan line leads to that gentle place
Between her collarbone and her stone-cold face

Dockhand boys all say goodbye
To the women that they swear are gonna be their wives
They'll be gone by the wintertime
And they don't wanna bother with no friend of mine

Wet, hot, American nights
Shake your body dry under coastline light
Wet, hot, American nights
We snuck our Fords to the shore and drank a bottle bone-dry
We snuck our Fords to the shore and drank a bottle bone-dry

Davey got back from his first tour
He ain't the same boy that he was before
Twenty's too young to nearly die
American boys are a friend of mine

Delco Danny cut a deal with the dealer
That he met out at the Rivers Casino
He got caught countin' cards, then them spades broke his heart
Then the Point Breeze boys broke his nose
Heard Mary got that job that she wanted out of town
She was better than the sum of all of us anyhow
She still stops by whenever she can
She's tougher than my brother with her balled left hand

Wet, hot, American nights
Shake your body off under coastline light
Wet, hot, American nights
We snuck our Fords to the shore and drank a bottle bone-dry
We snuck our Fords to the shore and drank a bottle bone-dry

Screen door cracked, put the ball game on
Man on the porch singin' baritone
Tan line leads to that gentle place
Between her collarbone and her stone-cold face

Rail-tie worker, I've been layin' ties on cold ground
But I'm leavin' this evenin' on the same tracks I laid down
There's some boys out in Jersey that are callin' me out by name
I got a reason to believe I ain't glory-bound anyway

And if you're readin' this letter, tell my mother and my brother that I love 'em
He's got the better blood of my old man and our cousins
But he made a bad deal with some boys out on Oak Island
And if he don't pay, they say they're bound to find him

But if I find 'em on that island first
The worst is yet to come
'Cause no blood in the mud I's raised in spends
Life on the run

And I went to Jay's tavern and it happens that them boys were there
Recognized his backside from the color of our mother's hair
And my brother found another way to make himself a decent little livin'
He turned around and found himself a lickin' only blood could give him
And I told him I was there to keep him clear of that island
He said, "I love you Mickey, but I found out that I'm them"
And I got bad blood with some blood out on Oak Island
And if he stays, I say I am bound to find him

But if I find 'em on that island first
The worst is yet to come
'Cause no blood in the mud we's raised in spends
Life on the run

[Zach Bryan]
I've got plates for purple gas
'Bout the only break I catch
But I am not the kind of man
To blame the dealer on a losing hand
[Noeline Hofmann]
Have a lone star in my eye
The darker the sky, the brighter it shines
Pumpjack checks and baler twine
A ton of grit or maybe it's spite

[Zach Bryan & Noeline Hofmann]
And if I weren't a flatland boy, I'd say I have a hill
A hill that I will die upon if the climb don't get me killed
If there were such heights around here for a guy to lay his pride
Maybe I'd rest before I died if I weren't a flatland boy
[Zach Bryan]
If I weren't a flatland boy

[Noeline Hofmann]
I hammer down, hair straight back
World blurs past, tell me, how's it that
My horizon line's static?
I guess at least it's a sure bet
[Zach Bryan]
Was taught to not throw the first fist
But if you take a hit, finish that son of a bitch
In a life having the upper hand's a myth
Your only fighting chance is too stubborn to quit

[ Zach Bryan & Noeline Hofmann]
And if I weren't a flatland boy, I'd say I have a hill
A hill that I will die upon if the climb don't get me killed
If there were such heights around here for a guy to lay his pride
Maybe I'd rest before I died if I weren't a flatland boy
[Zach Bryan]
If I weren't a flatland boy

[Noeline Hofmann]
Retired rail ties, point-nine wire
Neighbor kid on the fencin' pliers
Fargo that turns over fine
At forty below if you cuss it right
[Zach Bryan, Noeline Hofmann]
A sly thumb of rye sometimes
Keep a bottle hid with the Bio-Mycin
You can dull the edge, you can look ahead
But can't get there, it goes on forever
Oh, it just goes on forever
You keep your head down, it goes on forever

[Zach Bryan]
But I've got plates for purple gas
[Noeline Hofmann]
I've got plates for purple gas

Let me die out in the boons
It took me thirteen years to bloom
They broke up, but he's alright
We'll be in town 'til late tonight
I'm dyin' in the boons

And I hate a hungry crowd
Worst of 'em all talk the loudest
I guess I'll die out here
With a hammer and a beer
Just dyin' in the boons

So leave me out of that talk downtown
I have found everything I'll ever need
Real deep
In the boons

I met a girl deep in the city
She said she don't mind sittin' with me
I let my troubles float away
I had myself a simple day
Just dyin' in the boons
And how I miss the Quik Stop line
They say hello every time
No concern for politics
Come on home, I'll check for ticks
Love me gently in the boons
And why does everyone I know
Have somewhere else to go?
Won't you look up from your hands?
Let's be still while we still can
Stay a while out in the boons

So leave me out of that talk downtown
I have found everything I'll ever need
Real deep
In the boons

Let me die out in the boons
It took me thirteen years to bloom
I'm beat up, but I'm alright
I'll be in town 'til late tonight
Just dyin' in the boons

Well, I saw you in my dreams last night
You had a vandal grin framed by a suit and tie
You were sayin' you were out of here
With your breath framed by cocaine and beer
Who'da thought she would ruin you
And leave your whole damn family in shambles too
I got a call from your mom months back
Sayin', "I wish he didn't leave town like that"
I wish he didn't go out like that

But love's gonna bring you home
Even God didn't see it comin'
But no matter where you're at
We'll always find the way back
We'll always find the way back
We'll always find the way back

Tokin' poison to some Killers song
Your old man's Trans-Am in Kodachrome
Bumper sticker to the back right
State champs '83 through '85
She's smokin' cigarettes in the kitchen
Tom and Jerry's on the front room television
She always sat under the oak tree
Sayin', "God, I miss the old me"
God, I miss the old me

Love's gonna bring you home
Even God didn't see it comin'
No matter where you're at
We'll always find the way back
We'll always find the way back
We'll always find the way back

Baseball in the fall with a worn glove
The leaves might change, but the roots stuck
Them shoes still hang on the top wire
Say, "I don't miss you, but I hate a liar"

Saw you in my dreams last night
You had a vandal grin framed by a suit and tie
Tokin' poison to some Killers song
Your old man's Trans-Am in Kodachrome
Your old man's Trans-Am in Kodachrome
Your old man's Trans-Am in Kodachrome

Rain started fallin' on the roof that mornin'
It was early summertime
We fogged up the rear window of my '67
Three-hundred, in-line
My lungs have been hurtin' and it's likely my liver
Has taken a lickin' too
Them Beale Street boys are handy
With a clap on four and two

The thrill is gone so slow and easy, won't you love me tender?
The way you move's a drug and I am on a life-long bender
So rest them tired eyes and let your dress fall to the ground
We're the only ones left who love Otis in this town

I need you like Memphis, the blues
I need you like Memphis, the blues

Cracked up skies tried on a couple lives
To find the one that fit
Cold wind comin' and the heat quit runnin'
But you keep my candle lit
Pictures on the wall say it all with the kind of conviction, make a river burn
You got a skeleton key on a chain around your neck
I got a chain around my heart
Church bells ringing in the air down the hill
From the house where you were born
I said, "Baby, don't you think we ought to live a little bit
Before Gabriel blows his horn?"

I need you like Memphis, the blues
I need you like Memphis, the blues

I need you like Memphis, the blues
I need you like Memphis, the blues
I need you like Memphis, the blues
I need you like Memphis, the blues

Yeah, we should just
F*ck it, yeah, I'm in

When you wake in the mornin' and I'm not by your side
Just know that I'm halfway to Dallas
I'm stoned out my mind, I'm half-buzzed
'Bout full-time since you left me to die here last August
When you make it to Nashville, you can tell by one hat tilt
That, that shit just ain't my scene
I like out-of-tune guitars and takin' jokes too far
And my bartender's extra damn mean

So roll where you're rollin'
I'll be prayin' you're fine
Wherever you're goin'
Just stay walkin' that line
'Cause they'll eat and they'll spit ya
But you're not their fool
They don't know ya like Ida
Back home on barstools

I'm out on the road when I'm goin' I go
I make music with all of my friends
I miss your silhouette, catchin' coastal sunsets
And the sound of that rusty door hinge
But that day's bound to come when I finish this run
And I'm rollin' right into your arms
And that bullshit you see on the late-night TV
Is a long way from our beatin' hearts

So roll where you're rollin'
I'll be prayin' you're fine
Wherever you're goin'
Stay walkin' that line
'Cause they'll eat and they'll spit ya
But you ain't their fool
They don't know ya like Ida
Back home on barstools
So roll where you're rollin'
I'll be prayin' you're fine
Wherever you're goin'
Stay walkin' that line
'Cause they'll eat and they'll spit ya
But you ain't their fool
They don't know ya like Ida
Belly-laughin' on stools

My old man bought a big bass boat
When I think of that summer of hope, I choke
'Cause even if we didn't catch a little bit of somethin'
We'd park that boat by the bluff at the day's end

I got a need to find trouble when things are alright
I pine for pain in the morning light
And even with my baby sittin' next to me
I'm a self-sabotagin' suicide machine

And you're goin', goin', goin'
'Til the Lord calls you home in
Your work boots and your worn coveralls
And you'll show them, show them, show them
With your high collateral loan on
That home where your children play with dolls

'Cause I was raised by a woman who was hardly impressed
And I carry that shit real deep in my chest
'Cause I ain't ever been one for cheap excuses
And apologies have always been a little late or useless
But if you give me four minutes and a little bit of time
I'll make them old days an old friend of mine
And I can talk to God and I can pray all day
But you can't heal somethin' that you never raised

And you're goin', goin', goin'
On Thanksgiving day when
You're sneakin' off to drink some alcohol
And you'll show them, show them, show them
While you're kissin' all the knees of
Every scrape and every bloody fall

My old man bought a big bass boat
When I think of that summer of hope, I choke
'Cause even if we didn't catch a little bit of somethin'
We'd park that boat by the bluff at the day's end

Well, don't get angry, listen to the sounds
Them good times will find their way back around
And I've got the answers, go on and touch my skin
Them better days always come back again

This life's a boat, boy, it all comes in waves
On the radio, her laughter and sweet mistakes
And I wasn't loved well as a younger child
So I'll pray these better, unstable days, they stay awhile

So don't get hateful, Lord, hot damn
There's a fire burnin' in the back forty
I'm still findin' out who the hell I am
And I'm so tired of wasting it away
Gonna find the time to realize
I'm in deep on better days

She always told me there'd be times like these
With a blue guitar, a city bar and a streetlight kiss
But I've never known quite what I deserve
You try so hard and wind up gettin' burned

So don't get hateful, Lord, hot damn
There's a fire burnin' in the back forty
I'm still findin' out who the hell I am
And I'm so tired of wasting it away
Gonna find the time to realize
I'm in deep on better days

So don't get hateful, Lord, hot damn
There's a fire burnin' in the back forty
And they're trying to change the man I am
And I'm so tired of wasting it away
Gonna find the time to realize
I'm in deep on better days
Gonna find the time to realize
I'm in deep on better days

Four, three, two, one

Play me something gently, I'm across the ocean missin' home
There are lights on sparklin' towers that shine dark when seen alone
Somewhere there's a mountain that overlooks the sea
I wonder if that mountains got more rock than my band and me
And I ain't no victim to a naïve boy's dreams
But I wish you were here now to see these damned old sparklin' things

It's a long road to heaven (long road)
It's a far drop to hell
I pray we outlive this fountain (pray we outlive)
I reckon time will tell
The stronger folks keep goin'
No matter where they've been (no matter where they've been)
And there are lights on sparklin' towers
That I'll never see again (I'll never see them again)

I am not the person that I was yesterday
And the things I'm seeing now will never be the same
Do you think God's a person or the blinking lights?
They reflect in her eyes while she walks these streets at night
Do you think God's a person or is He just the sound
Of laughter through the walls in a place I haven't found?

It's a long road to heaven (long road)
It's a far drop to hell
I pray we outlive this fountain
Reckon only time can tell
The stronger folks keep goin'
No matter where they've been (no matter where they've been)
There are lights on sparklin' towers
That I'll never see again

Do you think God's a person or is He just the sound
Early mornin' creakin' on some floors way out of town?
I'm breathin' in a life and my legs are workin' fine
Do you think God's a person or the slowly passin' time?

The shape you take when you lay like that
Reminds me of a love I've never had
If loving's wrong, what's a boy to do?
I ain't scared of death, I'm scared of losing you
You ain't out of my league, you're out of this planet
But dammit, if you ain't drilled into my skull

Take a trip uptown to clear you out of my mind
You're like sandpaper, the more I try, you bind
Winter was a drag, but spring was a friend
I'll love you 'til the summer comes back again
And they've been tryin' to smooth me out
For twenty-seven seasons now
For twenty-seven seasons now

When I close my eyes, I think of times
I could smell and hear, that northern thunder
Every pine has its time
To outgrow the rings of days a-younger
I'll be still at the cutting mill
Just make me a roof you can hide under

Take a trip uptown to clear you out of my mind
You're like sandpaper, the more I try, you bind
Winter was a drag, but spring was a friend
I'll love you 'til the summer comes back again
And they've been tryin' to smooth me out
For twenty-seven seasons now
For twenty-seven seasons

We'll take a trip uptown to clear you out of my mind
You're like sandpaper, the more I try, you bind
Winter was a drag, but spring was a friend
I'll love you 'til the summer comes back again
And they've been tryin' to smooth me out
For twenty-seven seasons now
For twenty-seven seasons now
For twenty-seven seasons now

Lovesick, homesick, sick of the road too
There's a reason all them boys back when sang the blues
And please don't ask me how these last years went
Mama, I made a million dollars on accident
Well, I was supposed to die a military man
Chest out too far with a drink in my hand
But I got folks who like hearing me rhyme
I think of thunder under metal roofs, all the time
Why's everyone acting like they ain't human?
Take me back to green grass and knowin' what I's doin'
'Cause I just need a friend right now
Sittin' close until the daylight's out
It ain't been my week, it ain't been my year
And I hate to admit I just need you here

So close your eyes, do you think of when you's younger?
Won't you rest your mind?
Smell that northern thunder
So close your eyes, I pray you see those memories
The way this life blackens all the things you used to be
So close your eyes, do you think when you's younger?
Rest your mind and smell that northern thunder
Won't you close your eyes? Think of what this used to be
The way this life blackens all your younger memories

Lovesick, homesick, sick of the road too
There's a reason all them boys back when sang the blues

You know that time goes
Right out the window
And our hearts
They beat on borrowed time
Pack the car while the creek's runnin'
Cast a line with the dawn comin'
You know I wanna believe in somethin'
Somethin' like you
Reckon God is a funny man
For puttin' beauty in these ugly hands
And I don't quite understand
The joke quite yet

And it was cold, but I was warmer than I'd ever been
I'll get old, but I wish I was younger then
I reckon God's gotta be a funny man, I do
'Cause I got you

One piece in hot beach sand
Make it through to the weekend
Shape you take when you sleep in
Reckon God is a funny man
For puttin' beauty in these ugly hands

And it was cold, but I was warmer than I've ever been
I'll get old, but I wish was younger then
I reckon God's gotta be a funny man, I do
'Cause I got you

You know the time goes
Right out the window
And our hearts
They beat on borrowed time
So pack the car while the creek's runnin'
We'll cast a line with the dawn comin'
You know I wanna believe in somethin'
Somethin' like you

The kids are in town for a funeral
So pack the car and dry your eyes
I know they got plenty of young blood left in 'em
And plenty nights under pink skies you taught 'em to enjoy

So clean the house, clear the drawers, mop the floors, stand tall
Like no one's ever been here before or at all
And don't you mention all the inches that are scraped on the doorframe
We all know you tiptoed up to 4'1" back in '08

If you could see 'em now, you'd be proud
But you'd think they's yuppies
Your funeral was beautiful
I bet God heard you comin'

The kids are in town for a funeral
And the grass all smells the same as the day you broke your arm swingin'
On that kid out on the river
You bailed him out, never said a thing about Jesus or the way he's livin'

If you could see 'em now, you'd be proud
But you'd think they's yuppies
Your funeral was beautiful
I bet God heard you comin'

If you could see 'em now, you'd be proud
But you'd think they's yuppies
Your funeral was beautiful
I bet God heard you comin'

The kids are in town for a funeral
So pack the car and dry your eyes
I know they got plenty young blood left in 'em
And plenty nights under pink skies you taught 'em to enjoy

Coffee cold this morning
You're getting rid of me
Got drunk, fell asleep and woke up in Eastern Tennessee

Woke up on the wrong side
Of a lifelong fight between
Who I was, who I am
And which one's right

Baby's out with the bathwater
He ain't got no chance
Oklahoma knows the old ya
So boy, get up and dance

These songs used to free me
Now there's nothin' free in this
Just 808 beats, what we used to be, and back-door politics

Now everyone I knows an outlaw
Country to their core
But the only outlaw I've known
Served in the Corps

And I ain't heard "Shake the Frost"
In a couple years or more