Outside the window in my memory
Snow is coming down
I can smell the cedar
And the cider all over town
The reality comes back
And shakes me from my bed
The sound of rattling cages
Takes me out of my head
I won't be home
For Christmas this year
Just like the one before
And the one before I'm here
In this cold steel and concrete
I'm spending Christmas day
With plenty of company
And this debt I have to pay
Every year at this time
I think about what's fair
And why I didn't play that way
And why I didn't care
I'd give what's left of this stale life
For one last breath to share
One moment with you frozen
In the chill of Christmas air
I won't be home
For Christmas this year
Just like the one before
And the one before I'm here
In this cold steel and concrete
I'm spending Christmas day
With plenty of company
And this debt I have to pay
I won't be home
For Christmas this year
Just like the ones before
And the ones to come I fear
This icy prison yard
Is my winter wonderland
My innocence left footprints
In the west Texas sand
I won't be home for Christmas this year