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Pin Hits the Shell Lyrics
You can lie to your Mama, you can lie to your race
but you can’t lie to nobody with that cold steel in your face.
And the same God that you’re so afraid is gonna send you to hell
is the same one you’re gonna answer to when the pin hits the shell.
Your sister’s been blaming everybody.
I don’t blame her, man, I guess I’d blame them too
if you was my brother, man, I‘d probably stand by you.
But you ain’t, man, so I got to go my way.
And I ain’t gonna crawl upon no high horse
Cause I got thrown off of one
when I was young and I ain’t no cowboy
so I ain’t going where I don’t belong.
It wouldn’t do you no good to let you know that it damned near killed me too
so I ain’t gonna mourn for you, man, now that you’re gone.
Me and you, we liked our pills and our whiskey.
But you don’t want your head full of either one when
the house gets quiet and dark.
Having fun used to be so damned easy,
racing trains from 2nd Street to Avalon.
Take a trip down memory lane,
You don’t see no friendly faces
all the houses have been painted and
nobody knows your name.
It’s enough to make a man not want
to be nobody’s Daddy,
when all he thinks he’s got left to hand down is guilt and shame.
And I ain’t gonna crawl upon no high horse........
You can lie to your Mama, you can lie to your race
but you can’t lie to nobody with that cold steel in your face.
And the same God that you’re so afraid is gonna send you to hell
is the same one you’re gonna answer to when the pin hits the shell.
but you can’t lie to nobody with that cold steel in your face.
And the same God that you’re so afraid is gonna send you to hell
is the same one you’re gonna answer to when the pin hits the shell.
I don’t blame her, man, I guess I’d blame them too
if you was my brother, man, I‘d probably stand by you.
But you ain’t, man, so I got to go my way.
Cause I got thrown off of one
when I was young and I ain’t no cowboy
so I ain’t going where I don’t belong.
It wouldn’t do you no good to let you know that it damned near killed me too
so I ain’t gonna mourn for you, man, now that you’re gone.
But you don’t want your head full of either one when
the house gets quiet and dark.
Having fun used to be so damned easy,
racing trains from 2nd Street to Avalon.
Take a trip down memory lane,
You don’t see no friendly faces
all the houses have been painted and
nobody knows your name.
It’s enough to make a man not want
to be nobody’s Daddy,
when all he thinks he’s got left to hand down is guilt and shame.
but you can’t lie to nobody with that cold steel in your face.
And the same God that you’re so afraid is gonna send you to hell
is the same one you’re gonna answer to when the pin hits the shell.
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First, it's "...I guess I'd do the same" and "Feeling good it used to come so damn easy."
Beyond that it's a pretty poignant song about suicide's aftermath, one of a couple on this album. I really love the rich imagery of walking down a street one used to know only to find it dark and foreign. And the line about not being worthy of being a Daddy really hits home.
Still, the biggest thing for me is the way the song ends, with quiet and the click of those snare taps and the song's title running through it all.
Great song, clearly about a friend's suicide and how the speaker is dealing with it. But according to iTunes the correct title is "When the Pin Hits the Shell"...is there a way to edit the title of the song posted here?