The Devil's Real - Chris Smither

The devil ain’t a legend, the devil’s real

In the empty way he touched me, where I hardly feel

In the empty hole inside me, the nothing that’ll ride me

Down into my grave, it does not heal

Nothing is as something, it’ll suck you dry

As the whisper you can hardly hear that tells you why

They told me «You ain’t got no problems, you’re self-deceived»

These seeming contradictions, well they make believe

It was then that I decided my life was being guided

By a second-rate dependence on first-class thieves

They told me I was breaking through, I was breaking down

By the time I learned the difference they had long left town

You know that they ain’t so malicious, they ain’t mean

They’re just vaguely well-intentioned with no love I’ve seen

And it’s the emptiness that kills you, cold comfort that’ll fill you

With a sense of dread that maybe things are worse than they seem

They don’t tell you nothing you don’t already know

They just keep holding out the promise but they don’t let go

You know they don’t let go

Well, it was hard luck and trouble, bad times too

I know I had 'em coming, but I got through

It was advice that you gave me in a dream that saved me

You said «Get a new life contract that spells out your dues.»

Took good will to find it, a clear conscience to sign it

Now I dream about the good times and it all comes true