MaeveHall

Verse

The heat is sitting on the parking lot
Two in the afternoon, the asphalt’s soft
Property management is next to the nail salon
Neon sign buzzing, but the light is gone
Got the money order folded in my hand
Thirty days of living in a promised land
That don’t promise much but the sun and the dust
And a rattling AC unit you can’t trust.

Chorus

Slipped the envelope through the metal slot
Out here in the burning lot
The landlord don’t want my prayer
He wants his offering right there
Lord, another month is made
Another debt paid
But my soul’s still overdrawn.

Verse

Glass door is locked, so I don’t go in
No congregation here, no original sin
Just the same three cars idling in a row
Waiting for the traffic on the ten to slow
I count the hours I stood on my feet
To buy this little square of the blistering heat
It ain’t a sanctuary, it’s just a lease
And fifty extra dollars if you want some peace.

Bridge

I don’t ask for the water, I know it’s dry
I don’t look for salvation in a smoggy sky
Just put the car in drive, roll the window down
Take the long way back across this foothill town.

The slate is clean.
Until the first of the month.

Outro

Debt paid.
Keep the receipt.
Put the car in drive.

Overdrawn.
Just the heat.

Verse

Speaker humming on the kitchen tile
She’s been talking for a long, long while
Smoke is sitting on the two-one-oh
Nowhere for the heavy wind to go
I’m just staring at the window screen
Watching the yard lose all its green.

Chorus

Mama, please.

Be still.
Put down the sword.
Be still.
The oranges are dying on the tree.
Be still and know… you’re losing me.
Just be still.

Verse

She’s testifying ’bout the choices I made
I’m just sitting in the kitchen shade
Thirty days since we saw the rain
Brown dust baked on the window pane
Ice is melting in my water glass
I let the judgment and the hours pass.

Bridge

No amen.
No altar call.
Just the shadow on the kitchen wall.
Let the fire burn the ridge.
Let it burn.

Outro

Be still.
Put down the sword.
Be still and know.

Be still.

Verse

The hazard lights are blinking out of time
Two feet from the solid white line
Steam is rising up off the block like a ghost
And you’re just staring at a cracked rubber hose
You told me you had the tools in the back
Now we’re sinking in the asphalt cracks.

Chorus

You swore you fixed the belt on Tuesday
Now we’re dying on the shoulder of the freeway
Don’t preach to me about your bad luck
I don’t need a sermon on the hood of this truck
I need the water.

Go find the water.

Verse

You’re kicking at the gravel, looking for some grace
Wiping the engine grease across your face
Asking for forgiveness ’cause the needle hit the red
I’m just listening to the things you never did
There ain’t no baptism on the side of the road
Just the heat, the dust, and the things we owe.

Bridge

You want absolution for the mess we’re in
But a busted radiator ain’t a mortal sin
Save your testimony. Save your breath.
We got two miles to the exit left.

Outro

Walk.
Take the jug.
Go find the water.

Verse

Deadbolt turned, leave the boots in the hall
Headlights flashing on the stucco wall
Ten hours on my feet in the blistering heat
Now the only thing I want is the cool of these sheets
The AC is humming a steady low drone
I finally put down the weight of the phone.

Chorus

I don’t need a sermon, don’t need a pew
My only salvation tonight is you
Come over here, let the hours expand
I need you to lay your hands.

Yeah, lay your hands.

Verse

The neon from the liquor store bleeds through the blinds
Leave the logistics and the lease behind
You know every knot, you know every line
Turning this tap water right into wine
No congregation, no one in the aisles
Just the quiet of the dark and the slip of a smile.

Bridge

Give me the benediction.
Take it slow.
Take me to the places only you know.
Wash it away. The smoke and the dust.
Ain’t nothing left in this room but us.

Outro

Lay your hands.

Turn the water to wine.
Take your time.
Lay your hands.

Verse

Swipe the card, push through the dark
The lot is empty, hear the dogs bark
Wet wipe across the rearview glass
Watching the ten-hour exhaustion pass
Turn the key, let the engine catch
Ain’t nothing left on the strike of this match.

Chorus

So deliver me to the county line
Past the dry riverbed and the railroad sign
I don’t need a chariot to take me away
Just sixty-five miles an hour on the interstate
Let the dark water of the freeway wash me home
Lord, deliver me.
Deliver me.

Verse

Streetlights passing like rosary beads
Out where the concrete swallows the weeds
Radio’s low, but the static is loud
A single pair of headlights cutting the shroud
I left my prayers in the breakroom sink
Right now I just need the quiet to think.

Bridge

No holy ghost, just the solid white line.
No hallelujah, just the exit sign.
Keep the tires in the groove.
Keep the heavy foot down, let the metal move.

Outro

Wash me home.
Deliver.
Sixty-five on the interstate.