The Tunnel

Near the old folk's home, past Page Street and Ash That patch of woods next to the pink laundromat The things you learn in middle school, you don't learn in class Stole some weed from your uncle, so we hopped the fence By the section eight housing, back when we were best friends You saw a brick wall, I found a path The smell of summer water with nowhere to go Hanging like vampires under the road You said you can't get out the same way you came in 15, you're a kid, 16, it changes Those walls could've caved in any second for all that I knew So I held my breath, said a prayer, and kept running 'Til the shape of the end took the afternoon sun in I don't know how it works or how God picks who gets to get through It just seems like a lot of life's been mostly the tunnel for you Your dad sat on an upside-down bucket in the garage watching Westerns With the sound turned down, a cold beer in his left hand Your mother called him in for dinner then ate alone No one asks where you're going or asks how you've been And you're covered in tattoos, just under the skin But you're wearing those long sleeves, so nobody knows I bet the road heading South is somebody's North Just like somebody's darkness is somebody's torch Yeah, you can't get out the same way you came in Still think like a kid when everything changes Those walls could've caved in any second and blacked out the blue And I wanted to save you, but I just did nothing Prayed the shape of the end takes the afternoon sun in I don't know how it works or how God picks who gets to get through It just seems like a lot of life's been mostly the tunnel for you There's a light at the end, a light at the end, keep on running There's a light at the end, I promise my friend, it's coming There's a light at the end, a light at the end