Heathen

LYRICS: [INTRO] They call me heathen like they own the damn word. Like they ain’t got sins stacked taller than a church. So I’ll wear it. I’ll live in it.... Let’s go. Backroad lights, no mercy, no friends, no pray-ers Mud on my boots, blood in my grin, I’m stay-in’ They want a villain, cool, I’ll play it, I’ll slay it Then bring the thunder when I say it. [VERSE 1] I’m the rumor in the cornfield, shadow in the treeline, Red eyes in the rearview, bad luck on the county line. Mama said “be good,” but the world said “get fucked,” So I learned real quick how to bite back when I’m struck. Preacher talk sweet, hands dirty as hell, Same folks that judge me got secrets they sell. They spit “sinner” like it’s poison, like I’m less than a man, But they’d rob their own brother for a piece of the land. So I ride with my demons, yeah we shotgun and grin, If you’re lookin’ for an angel, you’re in the wrong goddamn wind. I don’t need your pardon, I don’t want your light, I’m what you made when you only feed a kid the night. [HOOK] They point and they pray, I laugh and I sin Call me heathen, I’ll carve it in my skin (fuck ‘em) I’m the dirt you can’t wash off You clutchin’ that cross while your whole damn mask fall off I’m the ghost in the pines when the good folks talk [VERSE 2] Town gossip feeds like rats in a wall, They love a scary story til it’s them that I call. I been buried alive by a thousand side-eyes, So I dug out with nails and a bucket of lies. You ever feel hate drip slow like tar? That’s this place, that’s this face, that’s these bars. I ain’t proud, I ain’t saved, I ain’t nice, I ain’t pure, I’m the consequence, baby, I’m the fuckin’ cure. They want me quiet, want me broke, want me gone, But I’m a bad habit beatin’ on the same old song. “He don’t belong… he don’t belong…” Bitch I built my own porch, now I’m stompin’ it strong. [HOOK] They point and they pray, I laugh and I sin Call me heathen, I’ll drag you where it’s thin I’m the dirt you can’t wash off You clutchin’ that cross while your whole damn mask fall off I’m the storm in the pines when the good folks talk [BRIDGE] Tell me who the monster is. The boy in the mud with a broken home, Or the “good man” Smiling while he throws the stone? I tried to be small. Tried to be clean. But you don’t get holy from a life that mean. So if I’m damned, I’m damned with my head up, fuck it, I’ll dance with the dark til the daylight buckles. [OUTRO] They can keep their halos. I’ll keep my scars. I'm a heathen… and I’m still here.