Track · Apr 11, 2026 · English

I Buried the Punchline

AshePoalumu31 plays

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Duration

4:29

Language

English

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Got a hole out back behind the shed

Took me three days and a busted back

Didn't dig it for a body, didn't dig it for the law

I dug it for the one good joke I had before the fall

[Chorus]

I buried the punchline

Right next to my good name

Put a rock on top so it don't crawl out

And try to start the same

'Cause every time I tell it now

The laughter sounds like shame

I buried the punchline, boys

And I forgot the grave I dug in case I want it back again

[Verse 2]

It was a simple thing, the setup

Somethin' 'bout a man, a mule, and a train

Used to make 'em howl, used to make 'em cry

Used to make 'em forget the blood on my hands and the look in my eye

But lately when I get to the end

They just stare at me like I lost a friend

[Chorus]

I buried the punchline

Right next to my good name

Put a rock on top so it don't crawl out

And try to start the same

'Cause every time I tell it now

The laughter sounds like shame

I buried the punchline, boys

And I forgot the grave I dug in case I want it back again

[Bridge — spoken, exhausted]

I told it to a skeleton once. Just bones and dust.

Got to the end and I swear... it almost seemed to smile.

Or maybe that was the wind.

[long pause]

I can't tell anymore.

I can't tell if I was ever funny

Or if they were just too scared not to laugh.

[Instrumental break — single guitar, low strings, a few notes hanging in the air like questions]

[Outro — sung, fading]

I buried the punchline

Deep as I could go

But every night I hear it scratchin'

From six feet below

[spoken, barely there:]

"Knock knock."

[silence.]

[whispered:]

"...who's there?"

[another silence. Then, soft:]

...nobody.

[last chord. No laugh this time.]

Style

outlaw countrytempo: slow-midtrudging. like a shovel hitting hard ground. acoustic guimaleenglish

Credits

Prompt by

AshePoalumu

GeneratedApr 11, 2026

ModelZona