I woke up to the hum of a Motel 6 sign

Buzzin’ like a wasp in the back of my mind

Boots on the linoleum, shirt smellin’ like smoke

Coffee gone cold and a half-spent joke

There’s a warrant in the county and a prayer in my chest

Mama’s little boy with a devil for a guest

The sunrise hits the highway like a blade on chrome

And every mile I’m runnin’ is a mile from home

So lay it on me, steel guitar—make it cry, make it burn

I been livin’ on the edge of what a man can learn

I’m an outlaw with a heartbeat, I’m a sinner with a scar

Chasin’ you through rearview mirrors, through the static of the dark

If I go down, let it thunder—let the fiddle cut the air

‘Cause I loved you like a gunshot, baby, sudden and unfair

Yeah, I loved you like a gunshot—loud enough to leave a mark

Met you by the jukebox at the VFW

You were laughin’ like you didn’t know what pain could do

Cherry red lipstick, denim and grace

Eyes like a storm front rollin’ in slow on my face

I was broke as a promise, but I had that mean old charm

You said, “Boy, you’re trouble,” then you took my arm

We danced to a sad song, then we made it our own

Now the radio’s a graveyard every time I’m alone

So lay it on me, steel guitar—make it cry, make it burn

I been livin’ on the edge of what a man can learn

I’m an outlaw with a heartbeat, I’m a sinner with a scar

Chasin’ you through rearview mirrors, through the static of the dark

If I go down, let it thunder—let the fiddle cut the air

‘Cause I loved you like a gunshot, baby, sudden and unfair

Yeah, I loved you like a gunshot—loud enough to leave a mark

And the night gets loud like an alt-rock choir

Kick drum in my ribs, barbed wire in the wire

I can hear your voice in the whistle of the train

Sayin’, “Come back clean,” but I come back in rain

I tried to be holy, I tried to be still

But the road’s a religion and I can’t quit the thrill

If forgiveness is a front porch, I been sleepin’ in the yard

With my hands full of nothin’ but the pieces of your heart

So lay it on me, steel guitar—make it cry, make it burn

I been livin’ on the edge of what a man can learn

I’m an outlaw with a heartbeat, I’m a sinner with a scar

Chasin’ you through rearview mirrors, through the static of the dark

If I go down, let it thunder—let the fiddle cut the air

‘Cause I loved you like a gunshot, baby, sudden and unfair

Yeah, I loved you like a gunshot—loud enough to leave a mark

Now the blue lights fade in the dust behind my Ford

And the moon’s got your name carved in it, sharp as a word

Ain’t no alibi for longin’, ain’t no cure for that spark

So I’ll sing it low and gravel—yeah, I loved you like a gunshot in the dark