Wildfire

Fire in my belly, ash on my tongue

I saw flashbulbs in grand auditoriums

Through starry eyes that burned so clear

Before the mud, the blood, and the beer

Johnny was on vinyl, he was still alive

I was pining after autumn and them blustery nights

Death rode in the back of my mind

But I was too pissed off to die

Candle flame in my belly, wax behind my lip

I saw acclaim in crowded, beer-soaked basements

Through stormy eyes, heavy with codeine

In the dog days of self-destruction and self-loathing

Ryan lined my headphones while I'd walk to work

Blasting Jacksonville past brownstones, Dunkies, and doctors

Death rode in the passenger seat

Whispering directions to me

Cooling ember in my belly, smoke between my teeth

I saw rusty strings and blank dusty pages in Essex county

Through tired eyes, half war, half peace

Do I rage against the dying that part of me?

Cause if it's gonna go anyway, shouldn't it go gently?

I was just a kid when that spark first lit

And it grew into a wildfire

Now I'm older than Gram was when he died

And though it saved me countless times

I can't seem to care anymore 'bout that wildfire

Death fell asleep in the back seat

Like Hank in his Cadillac

It's not the fading of the flame that really scares me

It's how little I want it back