Gravel in My Gut

I was born where the wind don't rest

Where the crows fly low and the land ain't blessed

Mama said"Boy, you best grow tough"

'Cause the world don't care if you've had enough

My boots got holes, but they still stomp proud

I talk real soft, but I think out loud

Ain't no halo hangin' above my head

But I've outlived men who's long since bled

I got gravel in my gut and fire in my chest

Carried more weight than a man should wrest

A heart full of dust and a soul that won't quit

If I break, I break but I ain't gonna split

A woman once tried to smooth my edge

Left a note and a ring on the window ledge

Said I loved the bottle more than I did her

She weren't wrong, just not the first to learn

I don't beg, and I sure don't borrow

Trade pain today for a harder tomorrow

Ain't much left but this calloused pride

And a sawed-off truth I ain't gonna hide

I got gravel in my gut and fire in my chest

Carried more weight than a man should wrest

A heart full of dust and a soul that won't quit

If I break, I break but I ain't gonna split

So lay me down where the wheatgrass grows

A stone for my name, and a story that knows

That I walked through hell and never looked back

With gravel in my gut and a steel rail track