Kitchen Without Her

Lyrics

(Verse 1) I still hear my mama’s tires on the gravel outside The screen door slammin’, the dog goin’ wild I’d race her to the kitchen just to tell her how my day went Now I stand in my own kitchen and the words won’t even form The hallway light’s been burnin’ since I walked in from the shift I keep sayin’ I’ll replace it, but I never get around to it ’Cause if I fix the little things I might have to face the rest And the rest is just this quiet, and the rest is just this debt (Chorus) I don’t recognize the person standin’ in the mirror anymore He still looks like the kid who thought the world would open up the door But the dreams got smaller every year until they barely fit the room And all that’s left to count on is the things that always come I keep waitin’ for the life I swore was waitin’ up ahead While death and taxes take the rest and leave me with the dread (Verse 2) There’s a birthday photo on the fridge I almost threw away Everybody’s laughin’, I’m already lookin’ at the day I remember wantin’ everything—the books, the trips, the name Now I’m proud if I remember just to pay the bills and stay Dad called up on Sunday, we talked about the yard Said the trees are lookin’ thinner, said the winters hit him hard I told him I was doin’ fine, that I’d come by when I could Then I sat there on the line and didn’t say the things I should (Chorus) I don’t recognize the person standin’ in the mirror anymore He still looks like the kid who thought the world would open up the door But the dreams got smaller every year until they barely fit the room And all that’s left to count on is the things that always come I keep waitin’ for the life I swore was waitin’ up ahead While death and taxes take the rest and leave me with the dread (Bridge) I keep the old voicemails just to hear them say my name Like I’m still somebody’s kid and not just somebody who pays I drive past the old street and I don’t even slow the car ’Cause I know if I stop I’ll start lookin’ for the version that I was The one that thought the world was waitin’ just because The one that didn’t know yet how the quiet always does (Final Chorus – stripped, slower) I don’t recognize the person standin’ in the mirror anymore He still looks like the kid, but the kid ain’t comin’ through the door The dreams got smaller every year until there’s nothin’ left to claim And all that’s left to count on is the weight behind my name I keep waitin’ for a life that feels like more than just survive While death and taxes take the rest And leave me still alive (Outro) I kill the hallway light and I leave the picture where it sits I don’t know what I thought was waitin’ after this But I know that this is it And it isn’t It just isn’t.