In 1986, toen Lynne 17 jaar oud was, schoot haar vader in aanwezigheid van Shelby en haar zusje Allison haar moeder dood. Shelby’s vader was een gewelddadige alcoholist, die zijn vrouw regelmatig mishandelde. In 1985 had er Lynne’s moeder er (eindelijk) genoeg van en vluchtte ze met haar beide kinderen naar Mobile. Haar vader wist het gezin op te sporen, schoot eerst zijn vrouw overhoop en richtte de shotgun daarna op zichzelf: Can’t blame the whiskey or my mammy’s ways/2 little girls are better off this way, oh yeah.
Revel in the glory and my body in the ground
There will be disciples and a shadow that covers me
I won’t be afraid cause my soul has been set free100 so miles from the Mobile river
Lord, I can’t have her so I got to kill her
Heaven’s only days down the road
Liquor store down on the county line
Don’t want all the land but what’s next to mine
Heaven’s only days down the road
I’ve been insane since I was 9
Never was the cryin’ but the fightin’ kind, oh yeah
Load up the gun full of regret
I ain’t even pulled the trigger yet, oh yeah
Lost all the faith a man can own
My hopes are empty and so is my soul
Heaven’s only days down the road
Look at my fate in the paper now
I want to put her back but I don’t know how
Heaven’s only days down the road
Nobody wants me down there no more
Look at what I did to make then hate me for, oh yeah
Can’t blame the whiskey or my mammy’s ways
2 little girls are better off this way, oh yeah
Heaven’s only days down the road
Oh, heaven’s only days down the road
Oh, heaven’s only days down the road
Down the road, down the road, down the road
– Uitgelichte afbeelding: By Ron Baker (Kingsnake) from Austin, Texas – SXSW 2008 – Shelby Lynne, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3767586
