'Bout a Girl

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He said he found it in a notebook, back in school

All chords and broken verses, didn’t seem like a jewel

But he played it to some label guy down in Tennessee

And now it’s on the radio… but it ain’t about him, it’s about me

Ma says, “Let it go, baby, he’s still your kin”

But she don’t know the shape of the fire I been livin’ in

'Cause she never met the girl with the coffee-black eyes

Or heard the way she whispered when she said goodbye

It was ‘bout a girl who lit me up like June

Like thunder on the mountain, like a slow dance tune

It was 'bout a kiss that burned right through

‘Bout a promise made at half-past two

It was ‘bout a girl…

Now it’s ‘bout a lie

And I’m just a man watchin’ the credits roll by

He sings it sweet and sells it smooth

Talks like he walked in my worn-out shoes

But he don’t choke up when he hits that line

‘Bout the way she smiled the last damn time

This ain’t about pride

It ain’t about fame

It’s about losin’ her once — and now losin’ her name

I’m strummin’ in the dark, just tryin’ to get it right

While he's takin’ bows in the TV light

It was 'bout a girl who could’ve saved my soul

Who kissed like truth and left like cold

It was ‘bout the night I let her go

And all the things I’ll never show

It was ‘bout a girl…

Now it’s just a song

That don’t belong to the one who bled it all along

You can steal the chords,

You can sell the line…

But you can’t feel her ghost at closing time.

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