John David Brown

Dawson Boys You can pile all of the blame right on my back I’ll carry it around in a burlap sack Stuff it down beside the shame I’ve known since I first learned my name It’s just the weight of everything I lack So many times I’ve thrown it to the ground But my reputation hunts me like a hound Brings it back here to my feet Till I accept there’s no retreat I pick it up again and turn around So go ahead and run away when I walk in I’ll keep paying the price for my father’s sin This legacy is far too torn for me to ever mend Us Dawson boys don’t get a happy end Our hearts just have a way of turning cold Find trouble the same way other men find gold A woman never quite restrains All the violence in our veins These hands were never meant for her to hold ‘Cause Dawson hands are bloodstained from our birth We start fighting soon as our feet touch the earth At home, you learn to take a hit Till you can give back what you get The poor man finds a way to prove his worth So go ahead and run away when I walk in I’m just the next one in a line of angry men We’ve all spent too many years walking against the wind Us Dawson boys don’t get a happy end Carve it on my tombstone “Bitter, mean, and reckless Was his family curse A Dawson boy to the bone Hits each mark on the checklist No chance to be the first To break away” I’m scared that’s what they’ll say So go ahead and run away when I walk in But I ain’t the same man as my next of kin This branch of our tree might not break, but at least I’ll try to bend ‘Cause this Dawson boy sure wants a happy end