Murder Pays it Forward

murder pays it forward with a burning cigarette
dying slow beneath october wind.
murder walks the boulevard in khakis & a coat
staring through to all those pretty scenes.

they said he was a quiet boy
never showed the signs of joy
enlisted just to get away from home.

momma said he ain’t the same
but he never talked much anyways
just hid around the house and watched T.V.
he never meant that much to me

cold as ash left out the night before
murder passes one last steely gaze
darts into a railcar and drops down in a seat
a drop of sweat between his shaky knees

they said he was a quiet boy
never showed the signs of joy
enlisted just to get away from home.
momma said he ain’t the same
but he never talked much anyways
just hid around the house and watched T.V.
he never meant that much to me

he darts into a shopping mart,
shatters the glass case apart
and grabs the nearest shotgun he can find.
loads the shells in one, two, three-
an automated symphony
and one, two, three, he slips into the night.

they said he was a quiet boy
never showed the signs of joy
enlisted just to get away from home.
but fighting ate his mind away
exposed the cracks inside his brain
the desert whipped that boy into a man.
and I’ve got to kill him when I can

i know that it’s my destiny to bring him in
i’ve replayed scene for oh so many years
cuz when I stare into his eyes real slow
and look beyond the darkened woe
i swear to god I see the shit that we’re all in.

they said he was a quiet boy
never showed the signs of joy
enlisted just to get away from home

but the pills rotted his nerves away
and filled the cracks inside his brain
and sealed the damage tight into a jar.

well, momma said he ain’t the same
but he never talked much anyways
just hid around the house and watched T.V.
he was a brother to me