One Day All This Will Be Yours

my mother's mother lives alone
her husband left her years ago
ran off with some girl half her age
left her with six young kids to raise
i saw him once before he died
he nearly drank himself to death
he called me over to his side
and whispered, running out of breath
and my grandfather said,

"yeah before you get in
be sure to have a way out
yeah before you get in
be sure to way out, be sure to have a way out"

my mother's father died alone
only a nurse heard his last words
'son, you have my blood in your own
and one day all this will be yours"
i rubbed my forehead as you slept
saw granddad smiling from hell
i moved my arms so we wouldn't touch
and whispered quietly to myself
'history repeats'

if you're gonna get in
be sure to have a way
if you're gonna get in
be sure to know your ways out
you gotta have a way out
you gotta have a way out
you gotta have a way out

you can't complain about the hand you were dealt
no, the cards were real good if you had played 'em well
you coulda taken the house if you bet enough
but you folded real early and they won with the bluff
your soul resigned at such a young age
to spittin' out smoke and suckin' down whiskey
and your grandfather died of the exact same thing
but something's gotta kill you, might as well be the drink
something's gotta kill you, might as well be the drink
something's gotta kill you, might as well be the drink
something's gotta kill ya

now you found some bar where you can hide in the light
and you found some young stranger to you lied all night
sayin' my cards were real good, i wish i played 'em right
and i swear to god i loved her, just not enough to fight
don't exchange names with who you were with
she called you fallen angel, but that don't quite fit
cause you've always been a devil at heart
and you can't lose everything if you ain't got shit to start
and you can't lose everything if you ain't got shit to start
no, you can't lose everything if you ain't got shit to start
you can't lose everything if you ain't got shit to start

now the booze in your blood starts talkin' sense
you see a noose hangin' from your family tree's lowest branch
you say, 'granddad i don't know where you are now,
but pops, if you can hear me, i found a way out.'
it's half past two, you're hangin' by your belt
swingin' in the closet of an empty house
you wrote a note that read, 'god wouldn't send me to hell
if he won't do his dirty work, then i'll just do it myself
he wants to keep his hands clean so i'll just do it myself
no, he aint got the guts, so i'll do it myself
you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself'

if you wanna get in, you'd better have a way out
if you wanna get in, you'd better have a way out
if you wanna get in, you'd better have a way out
if you wanna get in, you'd better have a way out
you'd better have a way out

good god, I caught ya smilin' at satan
and he just laughed in your face when you asked him to change
you remember back when he was a saint and
now you just can't believe, he wouldn't do this to me
good god, there was no point in tryin'
he'd never clean up his act, but you still had to ask
could i ask where you were during my life?
i'm sure i deserved hell, but i coulda used some help.