Briar and Smoke 2 (Version 2)

Verse

Cigarette on the dashboard, smoke in my eyes

City's asleep outside but I'm wide awake tonight

Daddy said don't quit your day job, don't take a chance on fame

I showed him the ledger and he asked for the name of the flame

He smoked with me slow when the sirens started to climb

Now I hear it in my chest every time that red dot crosses my mind

Mama kept the family secret like a rosary round her wrist

Said this smoke is a benediction, ain't no demon we dismiss

Every ember from his cigar found its way into my palms

I'm holding onto the fire now that he's gone and left the plans

Pre-Chorus

They say it's a dirty habit, they say it'll steal your breath

But I never felt more alive than when I'm inhaling this death

Every drag is a rebellion against the ones who said we'd fail

I breathe this smoke like it's my own personal sail

Chorus

Briar and smoke, burning low

Same fire that made him go, same flame that makes me glow

Briar and smoke, burning slow

This is how I remember what I need to know

Briar and smoke, burning free

Inhaling every bit of what they used to be

Verse

Grandma kept the old harmonica on her kitchen counter still

Blowing into it like a prayer when my daddy got his fill

I learned to play those same blues before I even knew his name

Now every note is a cigarette burning slow and sweet in flame

He said the world don't understand us, that we're too wild for our own good

But this smoke understands me better than any doctor could

Every curl of smoke up into the dark is a reminder of what we came from

I keep it lit like a sacrament till my own kids learn to hum it

Pre-Chorus

They say it's a dirty habit, they say it'll steal your breath

But I never felt more alive than when I'm inhaling this death

Every drag is a rebellion against the ones who said we'd fail

I breathe this smoke like it's my own personal sail

Chorus

Briar and smoke, burning low

Same fire that made him go, same flame that makes me glow

Briar and smoke, burning slow

This is how I remember what I need to know

Briar and smoke, burning free

Inhaling every bit of what they used to be

Bridge

I ain't smoking for the nicotine no more

This is a ritual my grandfather taught me on the porch

He said sometimes you gotta keep the embers burning in your chest

Not just because it's something to do when you're restless, but because this is how we pass the test

If I can inhale every bit of what he left behind

Maybe one day they won't have to worry about leaving me blind

Chorus

Briar and smoke, burning low

Same fire that made him go, same flame that makes me glow

Briar and smoke, burning slow

This is how I remember what I need to know

Briar and smoke, burning free

Inhaling every bit of what they used to be