Ain’t No Stranger

I used to could sing
A pristine Hallelujah
It'd crawl over pretty, bowed, golden heads
To cleave to one heart
Nowadays, it just cleaves
Two or three hearts right through
And dies in the lonely love
And long-neck shards

Ain't no stranger
You know my trouble, Lord
You might can raise the ghost
But won't I turn him away from my door?
I ain't no stranger!
I ain't no stranger!

I used to could pine
For a fine apparition --
A soft lined face, a drawling grace
Some sweet, deep-down ache
These days I sit in contrition
Sending up late-night petitions
Scroll through my phone, trolling through the bones
Lying in my wake

Ain't no stranger
You know my trouble, Lord
You might can raise the ghost
But won't I turn him away from my door?
I ain't no stranger!
I ain't no stranger!

I used to could rage
In teenage piety
Too young to mind, too scared to live
Too dumb to die
But right around twenty-three
It was ripped out from inside of me
Leaving me without a machine to break
Or a tear to deny

Ain't no stranger
You know my trouble, Lord
You might can raise the ghost
But won't I turn him away from my door?
I ain't no stranger!
I ain't no stranger!