The Unique Path

Lyrics

[Spoken Intro- raspy semi-deep voiced male vocalist over a lone, twangy, slightly distorted acoustic guitar riff fading in] Yeah... they always told ya, "Color inside the lines." Well, the ink they give you is just watered-down lies. This ain't no radio-friendly, boot-scootin' boogie. This is dirt-road theology. This is for the ones who built their own damn road. Listen close... [Music kicks in: a slow, grinding, heavy beat. A swampy, distorted slide guitar wails like a dying beast. A deep, gravelly voice snarls.] (Verse 1) The preacher man talked of a golden street The lawman talked of order neat My daddy just pointed to the rusty plow Said "Boy, the only rules are happening right now" I saw the straight and narrow, a painted, pretty lie A pasture for the sheep that's just waiting for the die So I cut me a new trail through the Johnson grass and pine With a .38 for comfort and a jug of kerosene wine (Chorus) So walk the unique path, even if it's paved with glass With the ghosts of your regrets and the sins you can't outlast Let the thorns tear your clothes and the mud suck you down It's a one-man religion in a dead-end town Ain't no signposts guiding, ain't no blessings asked You just walk that unique path 'til you breathe your very last (Verse 2) Met a woman in Macon with eyes like prison steel She knew the kind of hunger that a store-bought meal can't feel We ran shine through the hollers where the kudzu chokes the light Lived on luck and vengeance and we loved with all our might They found our still on Sunday, burned it down for heaven's cause Now she's sleeping 'neath the willow, without a judge, without a pause And the man who wore the badge sleeps with the copperheads and clay The only sermon that I preached to him I let my old hound dog say (Chorus) So walk the unique path, even if it's paved with glass With the ghosts of your regrets and the sins you can't outlast Let the thorns tear your clothes and the mud suck you down It's a one-man religion in a dead-end town Ain't no signposts guiding, ain't no blessings asked You just walk that unique path 'til you breathe your very last (Bridge) They'll try to save your soul, they'll try to wash you clean But the filth of this world is the only truth I've seen So I wear my dirt like armor, and my scars like a crown I'm the king of my own ruin, watching their false kingdoms drown This path ain't for the fainthearted, it ain't for the sane It's a fever dream you choose to live in, again and again and again... [Guitar Solo - to match the mood of the song] [Chorus - even slower, heavier, more deliberate] So walk the unique path, even when it's paved with glass With the ghosts of your regrets and the sins you can't outlast Let the thorns tear your clothes and the mud suck you down It's a one-man religion in a dead-end town Ain't no signposts guiding, ain't no blessings asked You just walk that unique path 'til you breathe your very last (Outro) (Music slows to a lurching, ominous crawl. The vocals are a low, spoken growl.) Yeah... walk it. Walk it through the poison oak and the preacher's talk. Walk it past the graveyard shift and the factory clock. Your footsteps are the only hymn... your stubborn heart the only law. Walk it. Walk it. ...'Til the unique path... walks you. [Sudden, sharp, final chord that cuts to absolute silence.]