Rent Paid in Guilt

Lyrics

[Verse 1] He’s pushing forty, still at home Keys on the hook, but not his own A coffee mug with a chipped white brim And his mother calling him back in She says, “I need you, don’t leave yet” Hands him the list, hands him the debt Since his dad went under that graveyard stone She’s kept one son like a loan [Pre-Chorus] Every time he starts to pack She finds a reason to pull him back A leaky sink, a neighbor’s cry A heavy look, a loaded sigh [Chorus] Come home, come home You know she needs you there Come home, come home You never got your own air Three years down, three years gone She loved the man you could become Come home, come home Till the room feels like a cage [Verse 2] He stashes pills in a coat pocket seam Tells her, “I’m fine,” and calls it clean Eyes red on the kitchen tile Says it’s just stress, says it’s just a while She sees the shake in his right hand The lie in the way he says, “I can” He blames her anger when she breaks But won’t touch the wreck he makes [Pre-Chorus] She watched him drift, she watched him stall Watched him choose that same old wall A bottle hidden in the glove A borrowed life, a half-fought love [Chorus] Come home, come home You know she needs you there Come home, come home You never got your own air Three years down, three years gone She loved the man you could become Come home, come home Till the room feels like a cage [Bridge] Then she put her coat on slow Said, “I loved your maybe, now I know” Left the keys where he could see And walked out from the need of three No more lists, no more pleas No more carrying his disease He stood there with the sink still leaking Finally hearing what he’d been seeking [Final Chorus] Come home, come home But she won’t say it now Come home, come home He’s got to learn it somehow Three years down, three years gone She loved the man you could become Come home, come home And he’s alone with what he’s done