The Devil Rides Shotgun

[Verse 1]  
I was seventeen with a busted-up truck,  
A pocket full of nothing and a thirst for bad luck.  
Didn’t need a map, didn’t need a plan,  
Just a middle finger pointed at the whole damn land.  

Radio screaming like it owed me a debt,  
Cigarette burning through the holes in my regret.  
I wasn’t scared of dying — hell, I welcomed the thought,  
’Cause living felt like losing every battle I fought.  

[Chorus]  
That’s when the devil rode shotgun,  
Boots on my dash, laughing at what I’d become.  
Said, “Boy, you ain’t broken — you’re just getting started,”  
And I believed every lie from that voice cold‑hearted.  
I wasn’t running from trouble — I was begging it to come,  
Back when the devil…  
Yeah, the devil rode shotgun.  

[Verse 2]  
Red lights meant nothing, stop signs even less,  
I was fueled by anger, heartbreak, and a mess.  
Every wrong turn felt like the right kind of sin,  
Every night I swore I wouldn’t make it home again.  

I’d stare at my reflection in the rearview glass,  
See a stranger staring back with a haunted past.  
He’d whisper, “Ain’t no saving you, son, don’t pretend,”  
And I’d nod like he was the only damn friend I had left.  

[Chorus]  
That’s when the devil rode shotgun,  
Boots on my dash, laughing at what I’d become.  
Said, “Boy, you ain’t broken — you’re just getting started,”  
And I believed every lie from that voice cold‑hearted.  
I wasn’t running from trouble — I was begging it to come,  
Back when the devil…  
Yeah, the devil rode shotgun.  

[Bridge]  
But even devils get quiet  
When the truth hits hard.  
Even demons step back  
When you’re staring at your scars.  
One night I saw myself  
In the glow of that moon…  
And realized the devil only rides  
With the man who makes him room.  

[Final Chorus]  
That’s when the devil rode shotgun,  
But I kicked him out before the rising sun.  
Said, “You ain’t driving my life, not another mile,”  
And he faded like smoke in the rearview’s smile.  
I ain’t proud of the roads that I came from,  
Back when the devil…  
Yeah, the devil rode shotgun.  

[Outro]  
Now that seat stays empty…  
And I ain’t the man I was then.

Country Darkside Nightmare, Hellish