The Thresher’s Debt

Lyrics Verse 1 I was built like a mountain, born in a storm With a heart made of iron that never felt warm. Then she walked through the briars, a flicker of light And for one honest season, I gave up the fight. We had seeds in the garden and a roof overhead But the winter came early and the cattle fell dead. The ledger went bloody, the pantry went bare And I found my old demons just waiting under the stair. Chorus Oh, I’m a monster in a suit of skin Letting the rot and the whiskey back in. I’ve got a tongue like a razor, a mind like a cage I trade all my mercy for a bottle and rage. I cut down the garden to prove I can bleed And I choke out the flowers just to plant every weed. Verse 2 The pills kept me quiet, but the gin made me loud I built us a mansion then turned it to a cloud. When she tried to hold me, I’d reach for her throat— Not with my fingers, but with the words that I wrote. I’d find where she’s tender, I’d find where she’s thin And I’d drive a cold needle right under her skin. Just to see if she’d flicker, just to see if she’d stay While I spit on the sunshine and prayed for the gray. Bridge It’s a ghost in the mirror, it’s a ghost in the hall Trauma’s a hammer that built up this wall. If I hurt you first, then you can’t leave me behind But I’m losing my soul just to keep my own mind. I’m rigid as granite, I’m cold as the creek And I’ll burn every bridge just to stay on the peak. Verse 3 Now the house is a hollow, the woman is gone She took all the music and left me the dawn. Back in the dirt where my shadow began Just a broken-down husk of a desperate man. I’m lonely as midnight, I’m sharp as a thorn Cursing the day that this monster was born. I won every battle, I stayed on the attack But there’s nobody left now to keep back the black. Outro (Slide guitar fades into a slow, rhythmic thumping) Yeah, I’m right where I started... Broken and hollow... A king of a kingdom... That no one would follow.