Tyler Childers - Purgatory Album Lyrics

I only had a couple drinks last night
And few good hits from an antler pipe
And I must admit, I had a few white lines
And I don't know what all happened
I woke up in the noon time light
With a poundin' head, shiner on my eye
And I don't know how and I don't why
But it feels like fierce abandon

Ah, working on a buildin' out'a hand-hewn brimstone
Workin' on a buildin' and I'm buildin' on it all alone
Well there ain't nobody in my room tonight
Goodnight honey, honey sleep tight
Ma I swear I'm doing alright
But when the evenin' comes around
I swear to God

Pay no mind to the words I say
'Cause they ain't no count anyway
I been ramblin' around and led astray
By the paths that I been choosin'
Cuttin' paths like a forest fire
Pupils wider than backhoe tires
Throwin' my money on a funeral pyre
But it sure feels good abusin'

Ah, working on a buildin' out'a hand-hewn brimstone
Workin' on a buildin' and I'm buildin' on it all alone
Well there ain't nobody in my room tonight
Goodnight honey, honey sleep tight
Ma I swear I'm doing alright
But when the evenin' comes around
I swear to God

Bands too loud for their bible thumpin'
Feels too good to not count for somethin'
Big Sandy rock, Sludge River roll
Goddamn, fire in the hole
Look out baby, I'm bound to blow
I'm bound to blow a gasket
Damn good gig, good damn crowd
Good God, for cryin' out loud
Coming off stage I was mighty proud
Then I don't know what all happened

Ah, working on a buildin' out'a hand-hewn brimstone
Workin' on a buildin' and I'm buildin' on it all alone
Well there ain't nobody in my room tonight
Goodnight honey, honey sleep tight
Ma I swear I'm doing alright
But when the evenin' comes around
I swear to God
I swear to God

Well my buckle makes impressions
On the inside of her thigh
There are little feathered Indians
Where we tussled through the night
If I'd known she was religious
Then I wouldn't have came stoned
To the house of such an angel
Too f*cked up to get back home

Lookin' over West Virginia
Smoking Spirits on the roof
She asked ain't anybody told ya
That them things are bad for you
I said many folks have warned me
There's been several people try
But up till now, there ain't been nothing
That I couldn't leave behind

Hold me close my dear
Sing your whispering song
Softly in my ear
And I will sing along
Honey tell me how your love runs true
And how I can always count on you
To be there when the bullets fly
I'd run across a river just to hold you tonight

Well my heart is sweating bullets
From the circles it has raced
Like a little feathered indian
Callin' out the clouds for rain
I'd go runnin' through the thicket
I'd go careless through the thorns
Just to hold her for a minute
Though it'd leave me wanting more

Hold me close my dear
Sing your whispering song
Softly in my ear
And I will sing along
Honey tell me how your love runs true
And how I can always count on you
To be there when the bullets fly
I'd run across a river just to hold you tonight

I am now the one she left
A haunted tale for someone else
A little bit about herself
Wherever she is sleeping
Flint strikes out to pierce the dark
'Cause a flame from just one spark
Fill the room with smoke so harsh
She exhales a memory

The past is fadin'
Over time
But it's still hangin' on for life

I'm now her used to be
He is now the one she needs
He is now the one she leans on
She looks out at the sunset
On a quilt of rags he holds her tight
And they raise a toast of Bulleit Rye
Whiskey kills all things in time
Like things she don't remember

Past is fadin'
Over time
But it's still hanging on for life

I am now an old headstone
And to her grave I'll die alone
A testament of how she's grown
Wherever she is sleepin'

Past is fadin'
Over time
But it's still hanging on for life

Once I was a dying breed
Chewin' on an ancient leaf
Before we took the notion
To keep up with the times
And leave 'em all behind
Chisel to the paper
Tattoos on the ether
Fadin' in the light

All the while I'd gorge my gut
Come the time then I would rut
Runnin' high and low to find my prehistoric queen
To keep me warm 'til Spring
When I'd go out with my friends
Graze the land and wonder when I'd see your face again

'Til the day I met my doom
I took one in the boiler room
To put food on the table of a dying breed of man

Once I was a broken heart
And once I tore your heart apart
Once my heart put out before I ever got to breathe
But my soul returned to seed
And come to Earth again
Clucking out a livin' as the favorite layin' hen

'Til the day I met my doom
A fox got in the chicken coop
Doin' all he knew to do to feed a hungry den

On and on down the line
I've swam canals and bore the hide
Of plenty births along this ride of being born again

Once I was and you were too
And we were both the word of truth
We built this world together
With a loud and mighty bang
Lord, it sounded like a train
And echoed o'er the land
And we came up with a game to play of being born again

Early in the morning when the sun does rise
Layin' in the bed with bloodshot eyes
Late in the evenin' when the sun sinks low
That's about the time my rooster crows
I got women up and down this creek
And they keep me going and my engine clean
Run me ragged but I don't fret
'Cause there ain't been one slow me down none yet

Get me drinkin' that moonshine
Get me higher than the grocery bill
Take my troubles to the highwall
Throw'em in the river and get your fill
We've been sniffing that cocaine
Ain't nothin' better when the wind cuts cold
Lord it's a mighty hard livin'
But a damn good feelin' to run these roads

I got people try to tell me, Red
Keep this livin' and you'll wind up dead
Cast your troubles on the Lord of Lords
Or wind up laying on a coolin' board
But I got buddies up White House Road
And they keep me strutting when my feet hang low
Rotgut whiskey gonna ease my pain
And all this running's gonna keep me sane

Get me drinkin' that moonshine
Get me higher than the grocery bill
Take my troubles to the highwall
Throw'em in the river and get your fill
We've been sniffing that cocaine
Ain't nothin' better when the wind cuts cold
Lord it's a mighty hard livin'
But a damn good feelin' to run these roads
It's a damn good feelin' to run these roads

When you lay me in the cold hard clay
Won't ya sing them hymns while the banjo plays
You can tell them ladies that they ought not frown
'Cause there ain't been nothing ever held me down
Lawmen, women or a shallow grave
Same ol' blues just a different day

Get me drinking' that moonshine
Get me higher than the grocery bill
Take my troubles to the highwall
Throw'em in the river and get your fill
We've been sniffing that cocaine
Ain't nothin' better when the wind cuts cold
Lord it's a mighty hard livin'
But a damn good feelin' to run these roads
It's a damn good feelin' to run these roads
It's a damn good feelin' to run these roads

Tina Nolan had a man with a good place for siftin'
He invited me diggin', so I picked up my screen
And a shovel to dig and a jar of shine
Traded me fair for a bottle of wine
His brother's Barnes Mountain wine

We trudged through the snow straight up the hillside
Took a ridge for a while, then we slowly went down
To an overhang hid from the ridgeline
We bent o'er our handles and we bit in the ground
The dark and bloody ground

Was a bitch to break ground but the wine kept us goin'
Moonshine was flowin' and keepin' us warm
'Cause you can't hold a girl with a fistful of shovel
Got to find your fire in the company of corn

We dug for a while then it all turned to ashes
Found a bunch of broke flint and a few bits of bone
Then I heard Jesse yell o'er the pile he was sifting
Shook the hills like the angels were callin' us home
Jesse, Zachary come home

It was banded as hell, it was fluted and Clovis
It was hot as the pistol I kept on my side
And I was fiending so fierce, I was broke ass and busted
I pulled out my pistol and I took Jesse's life

Clovis like that is a hard point to find
Makes pills swift to come by with a good chunk of change
Left over for burn on whatever meanness
Whatever woman is comin' my way
Darlin' come my way

I sit in this cell for the banded Clovis
I stole off of Nolan when I killed'm that day
I reckon the chase of the pills and the powder
Corn liquor and woman are the culprits to blame

Will you pray for me
When the roots of the oak and my ribcage are braidin'
If I can think
Lord knows that I will fondly pray for you
High on the hill where the fox horns blow
And down in the grave where they lay me low
Catholic girl, pray for me
You're my only hope for Heaven

When I's a boy
I'd drink and love and smoke and snort my fill
But all the while
I kept in mind the Lord's redeeming grace
High on the hill where the fox horns blow
And down in the city where the heathens go
Catholic girl, pray for me
You're my only hope for Heaven

you reckon he lets free will
Boys mope around in purgatory

I know that Hell
Is just as real as I am surely breathin'
But I've heard tale
Of a middle ground, I think will work for me
When the time has come for changin' worlds
I'll hedge my bets with a Catholic girl
Catholic girl, pray for me
You're my only hope for Heaven

I was out of my mind the first night we met
I was feeling lonely and blue
I just moved to the country to get me some rest
The city put a hurtin' on you
Especially a fella from Eastern Kentucky
Without a penny or a worth to his name
Wasting his life on a burning desire and chasing that honky tonk flame

You were soft on the eyes and a hymn on the hearin'
Leaving me helpless of lines
To get you to listen to the way I was feeling
And the plans that I had made for our night

Hold on now buddy won't you wait up a minute
You're mistaken if you think I'm the same
As them skirts you've been chasing all over town
Along with that honky tonk flame

I'm a woman with a love so true
Truth of the matter, I'd give it to you
You just got to slow down, and quit acting that way
Burning your barn in this honky tonk flame

You were sweet to the touch and a touch for the takin'
The minute I learned how to breed
Finally found out that the love of a woman
Who love me was all that I need
Still on the road 'cause I ain't good for nothin'
Except writin' the songs that I sing
Beating them strings like they're owin' me money
And chasing that honky tonk flame

But I've got me a woman with a love so true
Darlin' to me, but that's misses to you
All I did was slow down
Quit acting insane
Burning my barn in this honky tonk flame

Up in Pocahontas in the Cranberry Glades
Ain't got bars, nor the charge to call her anyways
My mind's a mile a minute
And my thoughts they bark like hounds
I focus on my breathing and the universal sound

I think about my darlin' girl sleepin' all alone
I pray the stars will shoot her all the wishes she can hold
On the day that I return, I aim to lay her down
But right now I am focused on the universal sound

I think about tobacco juice and mason jars of shine
I think about the vices I've let take me over time
I recall when I's a baby, I didn't need nothin' around
But a little bitty rattler and the universal sound

I'd close my eyes
It was all so clear
It was all right then
It was all right here

I focus on my breathin' and the universal sound
I let it take me over from the toenails to the crown
Of the body that I'm in till they put me in the ground
And I return to the chorus of the universal sound

I've been up on the mountain
And I've seen his wondrous grace
I've sat there on a barstool and I've looked him in the face
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down
He was hummin' to the neon of the universal sound

I'm a stone's throw from the mill
And I'm a good walk to the river
When my workin' day is over
We'll go swim our cares away
Put your toes down in the water
And a smile across your face
And tell me that you love me
Lovely, Lady May

Now I ain't the sharpest chisel
That your hands have ever held
But, darlin', I could love you well
Til' the roll is called on high
I've seen my share of trouble
And I've held my weight in shame
But I'm baptized in your name
Lovely, Lady May

Lord, the wind can leave you shiverin'
As it waltzes o'er the leaves
It's been rushin' through my timber
Til' your love brought on the spring
Now the mountains all are blushin'
And they don't know what to say
'Cept a good long line of praises
For my lovely, Lady May

Now, I ain't the toughest hickory
That your ax has ever felt
But I'm a hickory just as well
I'm a hickory all the same
I came crashin' through the forest
As you cut my roots away
And I fell a good long ways
For my lovely, Lady May