MUSIC FOR SALE

Found it tucked in a Bible you gave me,
Between the pages of John and despair.
That stone still shined like the lies you’d whisper,
But I don’t wear burdens I ain’t meant to bear.


You said forever like it come easy,
Like it was something you could bend or break.
I stood there dumb with a heart half-empty,
Now I’m full of fire, and I’m wide awake.


So I pawned that ring in Jackson County,
Got eighty bucks and a taste of peace.
Poured it in the tank of that beat-down Chevy,
And drove ‘til your memory ceased.
The wind don’t cry like you used to scream—
Lord, It felt light when I pawned that ring.


Hit a diner off Route 43,
Got eggs and some coffee, black as sin.
Talked to a waitress with a laugh like summer,
She said, “You look like a man who’s done within.”


Ain’t no shame in cuttin’ loose,
When all that rope was doin’ was hangin’ you.
I burned that bridge, I blessed the flame,
Thanked the Lord and I changed my name.


I pawned that ring in Jackson County,
Where the river cuts and the past runs deep.
Left that love where the mountains found me,
Buried it low, let the tall pines keep.
You can keep your crown and the hurt it brings—
I’m a better man since I pawned that ring.

Now I ain’t rich, but I sleep sound,
In motels or the bare hard ground.
No vows, no chains, no angry queen—
Just the open road and a peaceful dream.