Bury Me Loud

When I'm gone, don't dress me in a suit Dress me in the workshirt with the oil and the boot Don't stand at a pulpit and read me a verse Stand at the grave with the bourbon, do me one better than worse Don't whisper my name like it's holy and small Yell it from the parking lot, yell it down the hall Of the bar where I sang, where the boys all knew I was the loudest in the room and the truest of the few

'Cause I lived loud, and I loved loud I sinned loud, and I prayed loud Don't shut me up just because I'm gone Don't shut me up — sing me ON

Bury me loud, bury me proud Bury me with the song still ringing through the crowd Bury me loud, bury me proud Bury me where the choir lifts and the engines get loud BURY ME LOUD

Bring my old hounds, bring my best friend's son Bring the woman who stayed through every dumb thing I done Bring the boys from the third shift, bring the boys from the bar Bring my brother in the prison, bring the wreck of my old car Park it in the field, set it on fire, let it burn Tell my grandkids: this is how a hard man took his turn Don't make a tombstone, make a roadside cross Where the highway curves, where I learned about loss

'Cause I lived loud, and I loved loud I sinned loud, and I prayed loud Don't shut me up just because I'm gone Don't shut me up — sing me ON

Bury me loud, bury me proud Bury me with the song still ringing through the crowd Bury me loud, bury me proud Bury me where the choir lifts and the engines get loud BURY ME LOUD

I was forty-seven years of bone and ache Built a family from a wreck I couldn't shake Buried my best friend, buried my dad Drank too much, prayed too little, but I had Every minute, every breath, every hard-won laugh I lived twice as much as the average half So when the Lord comes calling, tell him I was real Tell him I was loud, tell him I could feel Every god-blessed inch of this short and crooked road I was loud — I was loud — I was LOUD (BAND SLAM-IN, FULL GOSPEL CHOIR ENTERS)

Bury me loud, bury me proud Bury me with the song still ringing through the crowd Bury me loud, bury me proud Bury me where the choir lifts and the engines get loud BURY ME LOUD BURY ME PROUD BURY ME LOUD

Bury me loud, bury me proud Bury me loud, bury me proud Bury me loud, bury me proud (Big band ending, single guitar note holds and slowly decays)

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