[Intro] (Heavy, distorted fuzz-bass riff) (A rhythmic, mechanical synth pulsing like an oil derrick) [Verse 1] The gate was rusted shut in eighty-six Searching for a miracle, a heavy fix Past the derrick where the shadows lean In the tall weeds of the League City scene I saw the light reflecting off the chrome A heavy price for never coming home The dogwood’s blooming but the air is thick It makes a healthy heart feel graveyard sick [Pre-Chorus] And the sheriff’s got a Polaroid in his hand Trying to map the secrets of a lawless land You were wearing blue, or maybe it was white? Before the Gulf Coast swallowed up the light [Chorus] [Stadium Energy] Oh, keep your secrets in the oil and the clay We’re just thirty miles from the Galveston Bay Where the derrick stands like a skeleton hand Over the ghosts of the hollow land I’m just a witness to the salt and the lime Doing my best to kill the time! [Verse 2] Heide was the first to feel the marshy floor Then the derrick opened up a wider door Laura saw the sky turn a violent grey Before the I-45 whisked the truth away They found the "Jane Does" in the Sunday rain With nothing left but a silver chain And a memory of a girl I used to know In the place where the black-eyed susans grow [Bridge] [Dramatic Guitar Break] (Music drops to a steady, menacing beat) The end of the road is a dead-end sign I swear to God she was a friend of mine The derrick turns and the mud runs deep The Texas fields have a soul to keep (What did you see in the tall, tall grass?) (How many more are gonna have to pass?) [Final Chorus] [Maximum Volume] Oh, keep your secrets in the oil and the clay We’re just thirty miles from the Galveston Bay Where the derrick stands like a skeleton hand Over the ghosts of the hollow land! [Outro] Past the derrick... Past the gate... (Just a friend of mine) Some things are left to fate. (Just a friend of mine) (Abrupt cut to the sound of a distant highway)
