Dark Country | Cleve Tucker — The Hand I Hid

He sat alone in the kitchen blaming the whiskey for the quiet in the house, until he looked down and saw his own hand pouring the glass. A thick gravel baritone cracks over dirty slide guitar, warm upright bass, and brushed drums, recorded straight to dusty analog tape. The shadow stays long against the wall, and the morning brings no forgiveness. #clevetucker #outlawcountry #slowcountry #countryblues Lyrics: [Intro] That bottle's on the table, catching fire from the dawn I used to swear it dragged me where I never should have gone [Verse 1] It took the keys from my shaking hand It put her tears in the kitchen sink It turned my promises into sand And left me too numb to stop and think I cursed that glass till my voice went thin Like it had crawled inside my skin [Pre-Chorus] But the truth came slow as a winter rain Through every locked and empty room No devil poured that first goodbye No stranger drove me home [Chorus] The bottle never forced my hand Never made me cross that line It never whispered her name away Or kept me from the light I can blame the burn, I can blame the pain But the hand was always mine And I learned it far too late In the wreckage of my life [Verse 2] Now the house holds dust where the pictures stood Her side of the bed is cold I wear regret like a crooked hood And carry the weight I sold There ain't a prayer that can make time bend Or bring back the man I broke But I can stand here and name my sin With a sober throat [Bridge] I wanted a chain, I wanted a curse Something clean to put the blame on But the darkest truth cuts the deepest first When the finger points back home [Chorus] The bottle never forced my hand Never made me cross that line It never whispered her name away Or kept me from the light I can blame the burn, I can blame the pain But the hand was always mine And I learned it far too late In the wreckage of my life [Outro] That bottle's on the table, but it don't command me now I pick it up, I set it down And face the man somehow