Jason Isbell - Live Oak lyrics

There's a man who walks beside me It is who i used to be And i wonder if she sees him And confuses him with me And i wonder who she's pinin' for On nights i'm not around Could it be the man who did the things I'm living now? I was rougher than a timber Shippin' out of fond du lac When i headed south at 17 Ol' sheriff on my back I never held a lover in my arms or in my gaze So i found another victim every couple days But the night i fell in love with her I made my weakness known Through the fires and the farmers diggin' dusty fields alone The jealous innuendos of the lonely hearted men Let me know what kind of country i was sleeping in Well you couldn't stay a loner On the plains before the war My neighbors had been slightin' me I had to ask what for Rumors of my wickedness had reached our little town Soon she'd heard about the boys i used to hang around We'd robbed a great lakes freighter, k**ed a couple men or more And i told her her eyes flickered like the sharp steel of a sword All the things that she'd suspected I'd expected her to fear Was the truth that drew her to me when i landed here There's a man who walks beside me He is who i used to be And i wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me And i wonder who she's pinin' for On nights i'm not around Could it be the man who did the things I'm living down? Well i carved a cross from live oak And a box from shortleaf pine Buried her so deep She touched the water table line I picked up what i needed And i headed south again To myself i wondered Would i find another friend There's a man who walks beside her, It is who i used to be And i wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me.