"Live Oak" lyrics - JASON ISBELL

There's a man who walks beside me
It is who I used to be
And I wonder if she sees him
And confuses him with me
And I wonder who she's pinin' for
On nights I'm not around
Could it be the man who did the things
I'm living now?
I was rougher than a timber
Shippin' out of Fond du Lac
When I headed south at 17
Ol' sheriff on my back
I never held a lover in my arms or in my gaze
So I found another victim every couple days
But the night I fell in love with her
I made my weakness known
Through the fires and the farmers diggin' dusty fields alone
The jealous innuendos of the lonely hearted men
Let me know what kind of country I was sleeping in
Well you couldn't stay a loner
On the plains before the war
My neighbors had been slightin' me
I had to ask what for
Rumors of my wickedness had reached our little town
Soon she'd heard about the boys I used to hang around
We'd robbed a Great Lakes freighter,
Killed a couple men or more
And I told her her eyes flickered like the sharp steel of a sword
All the things that she'd suspected
I'd expected her to fear
Was the truth that drew her to me when I landed here
There's a man who walks beside me
He is who I used to be
And I wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me
And I wonder who she's pinin' for
On nights I'm not around
Could it be the man who did the things
I'm living down?
Well I carved a cross from live oak
And a box from shortleaf pine
Buried her so deep
She touched the water table line
I picked up what I needed
And I headed south again
To myself I wondered
Would I find another friend
There's a man who walks beside her,
It is who I used to be
And I wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me.