We was sittin’ on a tailgate down a gravel holler road
Fire poppin’ in the dark where the tall pines growed
Cooler runnin’ empty, last cigarette passed around
Just a few old mountain boys and the whippoorwill sound
Tommy tipped the cooler back, said Boys we’re runnin’ dry
Ain’t a drop of beer left and these smokes done died
He grabbed his truck keys jinglin’, stood beneath the moon
Grinnin’ wide he told us, I’ll be back real soon
We said Tommy hold up brother, you’ve been hittin’ that jar
Pop’s Grocery’s down the road but it ain’t all that far
Let one of us go get it, man just sit a little while
But he laughed and shook his head with that stubborn mountain smile
He waved us off easy like he’d done a hundred times
Said Y’all worry way too much, boys I’ll be just fine
Truck door slammed shut in the quiet of the June
Window rolled down and he yelled
I’ll be back real soon
Headlights rollin’ down the holler, gravel spittin’ from the tires
Engine hummin’ low and slow past the glowin’ fire
We watched them taillights fade beneath that crooked mountain moon
Hearin’ in the distance
I’ll be back real soon
We kept that fire burnin’, passin’ time and passin’ shine
Talkin’ ’bout old stories from another place and time
But an hour rolled on by and the night felt strange and still
Till red and blue lights flickered past the ridge beyond the hill
Sirens cut the valley like a lonesome mournful tune
And nobody said a word but we all knew too soon
Somewhere down that blacktop where the old roadside pines loom
Was the echo of a promise
I’ll be back real soon
Headlights down the highway, flashin’ red and blue
Sheriff’s cars flyin’ like the devil was in pursuit
We stood there in the silence underneath that mountain moon
Rememberin’ the last words
I’ll be back real soon
Sunday came with rain fallin’ soft on the town
Church bells ringin’ slow while they laid our brother down
Mama held a handkerchief, preacher read a verse
And every one of us boys felt that quiet hurt
Up on that hillside where the red clay meets the sky
We set a jar of moonshine down and passed it one more time
Wind blew through the pines like a low familiar tune
And I raised that jar and whispered
We’ll be seein’ you again, brother, somewhere past the moon
Took a burnin’ swig of shine on that gray afternoon
Stared down at the stone where they carved his name too soon
And through the tears I said softly
I’ll be back real soon
Now every time the cooler’s dry and the night gets still
I swear I hear a pickup climb that old dirt hill
Firelight flickers, and the whippoorwills croon
And somewhere in the dark he’s sayin’
I’ll be back real soon
“I’ll Be Back Real Soon” is track number 7 on the Thumper Barrel album, In A Coal Town.
Track: I’ll Be Back Real Soon
Album: In A Coal Town
ISRC: QZNWY2695565
ASCAP: 935077947