Coffin Nails (2022)

Coffin Nails

All lyrics © Tim Scott McConnell 2024.

Better Than Bad

The Day I Died

Coffin Nails

Look What I Done To Me

End My Day

Runnin' Till I'm Done

Perdition

House Of Restitution

I've never been

Better Than Bad

I'd prefer to tell a lie

Than to tell you how I really feel inside

Let’s just say I'm doing fine

Despite discrepancies that daily plague my mind

Whatever I am, I'm better than bad

For forty years, I’ve plied my trade

Getting ripped off, conned and mostly under paid

Even still, I can't complain

If I had a choice, there ain't too much l'd change

Whatever I am, l'm better than bad

I've gotten close a couple times

To taking my last breath

But I must be good at something

Cause I still ain’t gone down yet

Maybe it's from living life

Out somewhere on the edge

Or maybe I'm just not a fan

Of being someone dead

Every morning when I rise

And have to look this ugly fucker in the eye

With a razor to his throat

I decide that he's ok and let him go

Whatever I am, I'm better than bad

l'm better than bad

The Day I Died

Sunday morning, skies are gray

Everybody standing round my grave

Telling tales about my saintly past

Oh my goodness they forget so fast

I heard some lies on the day i died

See that woman over there

Dressed in red with ‘Amy Winehouse' hair

Such a vision of despair

Talking bullshit ‘bout how much she cared

I heard some lies on the day I died

I heard some lies on the day of my demise

I'm not going to complain

Still I must admit I find it strange

No one mentioned my mistakes

Guess I’ll have to take them to my grave

I heard some lies on the day I died

I heard some lies on the day of my demise

Coffin Nails

Coffin nails, drive 'em deep

Seal that lid or else I'm gonna break free

Chain me down where I lay

Use a lock and throw the key away

But if the truth be told

There ain't no way that's known

To hold this rebel soul

Coffin nails, forged in steel

Nine inch long and sharp enough to kill

Use some tar round the rim

Do your best but you can't keep me in

Cause if the truth be told

There ain't no way that's known

To hold this rebel soul

Coffin nails don't come cheap

What a waste to use them all on me

Save your money, to be fair

I’ll be gone before you say your prayers

Cause if the truth be told

There ain't no way that's known

To hold this rebel soul

Look What I Done To Me

Mercy mercy, look what I done to me

Every time I turn around

l'm somewhere that I shouldn't be

No excuses from me, I confess

l'm the one who made this hell of a mess

Mercy mercy, look what I done to me

Every time I turn around

l'm somewhere that I shouldn't be

Being wicked wasn't my intent

Had no desire for an evening misspent

Mercy mercy, look what I done to me

Every time i turn around

l'm somewhere that I shouldn't be

Come tomorrow l'll be on my knees

l'll be sorry for this life that I lead

Mercy mercy, look what I done to me

Every time I turn around

l'm somewhere that I shouldn't be

End My Day

l'm done messing 'round with women

I can't see any other way

l'm done messing 'round with women

I can't see any other way

I've come to this conclusion

When all is said and done

I have a disposition

That’s just too hard to love

l'm done messing 'round with women

I don't see any other way

That's what I say each morning

But that's not how I end my day

l'm quitting all this drinking

It's just too high a price to pay

l'm quitting all this drinking

It's just too high a price to pay

Once that bottles open

I drink until it's gone

And when inebriated

Everything goes wrong

l'm quitting all this drinking

It's just too high a price to pay

That's what i say each morning

But that's not how i end my day

l'm stopping all this rambling

It's time to settle down some place

l'm stopping all this rambling

It's time to settle down some place

I'm always going somewhere

My bag is always packed

I'm always leaving someone

And never coming back

l'm stopping all this rambling

It's time to settle down and stay

That's what i say each morning

But that's not how i end my day

Runnin' Till I'm Done

Early in the morning

Before the sun can rise

I start to feeling restless

I dream of taking flight

I’m thinking ‘bout the back door

Slipping on my coat

Before the roosters crowing

I'll be on the road

l'm running till I'm done

My mama used to tell me

Some people have no place

Their home is on the highway

And in an old suitcase

She said the day she had me

The wind it blew so hard

That when I took my first breath

It stole away my heart

l'm running till I'm done

So when a storm is brewing

And most folks head for home

That's when you'll find me packing

And getting set to go

So tie me to a fence post

Use a lock and chain

But nothings gonna stop me

Except my dying day

l'm running till I'm done

Perdition

Indulge me if I tell you all a story

I need to tell it once before I'm dead

You see with age my memory is fading

To tell the truth, I guess that’s for the best

I used to be a wild and reckless rover

Who left a mess most everywhere I went

Sometimes my lucky victim got off easy

Other times I sentenced him to death

The time I’m thinking 'bout was in December

A cold and bitter Sunday afternoon

I was hungry, broke and feeling desperate

Just another loser with the blues

I saw a man all dressed in stylish clothing

Just me and him and no one else around

I snuck up like a shadow, right behind him

And without mercy brought that fucker down

I rustled through his coat and found his wallet

I stole his watch and took his wedding band

And all the time he just lay there a bleeding

Looking at me like a dying man

Now you might think this weighed upon my conscience

But to tell the truth I didn’t give a shit

l'd call it the survival of the fittest

But wickedness is all it really is

I guess you're wondering why I share this secret

The kinda tale that puts a man in jail

I've done my share here living in perdition

And prison ain’t near half as bad as hell

Prison ain’t near half as bad as hell

House Of Restitution

In this house of restitution

Once you’re here there’s no way out

Till they lay you in a pine box

And drop you six feet in the ground

You stop thinking ‘bout the future

Once you accept there’s no escape

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

Those are three words you don’t say

In this house of restitution

That's where you settle all your debts

All the crimes you perpetrated

And the dreams you put to death

All your wicked inclinations

And the evil you have done

Calls for a final retribution

And there ain’t nowhere you can run

You're gonna pay in so many ways

For your mistakes… In this house of restitution

In this house of restitution

There ain't nothing you can do

To stop each moment getting harder

With each turning of the screw

It's a constant repetition

It’s a job that’s never through

It’s the total annihilation

Of the very core of you

You're gonna pay in so many ways

For your mistakes… In this house of restitution

I've never been

I stood there at the crossroads with my one and only friend

And said l'd like to reconcile the kind of man I've been

I know I'm cursed forever due to all my wicked ways all my wicked ways

But still l'm here a begging you to give me one more day

I wanna go home, I wanna be free again

I wanna walk in the sun like the son of a gun

I've never been

My friend, the Devil, turned and looked me squarely in the face

Then smiled and said I'm sorry son, that's not the deal we made

I answered all I'm looking for is just a small reprieve

To see the very few I loved who felt the same for me

I wanna go home, I wanna be free again

I wanna walk in the sun like the son of a gun

I've never been, I've never been, I've never been

The skies above me turned to black, then fell a blood red rain

and with a bolt of lightning I no longer knew my name

I stared into the darkness as I searched my empty head

And though I knew not who I was, I found these words and said

I wanna go home, I wanna be free again

I wanna walk in the sun like the son of a gun

I've never been, I've never been, I've never been

Escape

There is this demon and he’s living in my phone.

I said to fuck off but the bastard just won’t go.

It knows my secrets and it won’t let me alone.

This demon in my phone has taken full control.

This demon’s watching nearly everything I do.

It fills me up with lies and tells me it’s the truth.

It’s always asking me to verify with proof.

Because it has the key to everything I use.

- Is there no escape from this mental rape

I have a lot of friends I’ve never even met.

We share our lives but than we only share the best.

I doubt that few will care on hearing that I’m dead.

I have a lot of friends but only on the net.

I buy a lot of things I know I do not need.

I only buy them cause they show up on my feed.

First they tempt me than the charge a shipping fee.

I own a lot of things but not my sanity.

- Is there no escape from this mental rape