THE HARD WAY (OUTLAW COUNTRY) - Levi Stoker
Never took the smooth road
Never liked the map
Always fell for the bait
Inside the rusted trap
My daddy said the straight line
Saves a man his skin
But I was busy looking
Where the trouble's been
I done bought my wisdom
At a copper price
Paid twice the tax
On the same old vice
Bleeding on the asphalt
Sleeping in the rain
Etching out my lessons
On a slate of pain
Nobody could tell me, nobody could teach
I had to reach for the fire just to feel the bleach
Stand out in the storm where the thunder rolls
To see what kind of lives and broken souls
Yeah, I learned it all the hard way
Burned it down just to see the smoke
Walked through the fire in a tattered borrowed cloak
The sky didn't open, the angels didn't sing
I just learned the cost of a temporary thing
Yeah, I took the long road, the jagged kind of straight
Lord help me, I learned it all the hard way
Lost a good woman down in San Antone
Left her standing quiet on a porch alone
Traded her sweet grace for a bottle and a gamble
Just another night on a reckless scramble
Now I carry that scar
Like a heavy lead weight
Knowing I was author to my own dark fate
Yeah, I learned it all the hard way
Burned it down just to see the smoke
Walked through the fire in a tattered borrowed cloak
The sky didn't open, the angels didn't sing
I just learned the cost of a temporary thing
Yeah, I took the long road, the jagged kind of straight
Lord help me, I learned it all the hard way
No shortcuts down in the red clay dirt
Every single lesson comes wrapped in hurt
You can't fake the gravel, you can't fake the scar
You gotta live the mile to know where you are
Yeah, I learned it all the hard way
Burned it down just to see the smoke
Walked through the fire in a tattered borrowed cloak
The sky didn't open, the angels didn't sing
I just learned the cost of a temporary thing
Yeah, I took the long road, the jagged kind of straight
Lord help me, I learned it all the hard way
Jagged roads
Red clay scars
Still walking
The hard way
