I can smell the death on the sheets Covering me I can't believe this is the end
But this is my deathbed I lie here alone If I close my eyes tonight I know I'll be home
The year is 1941 I was eight years old and far, far too young To know that the stories of battles and glory Was a tale a kind mother made up for a son You see, Dad was a traveling preacher Teaching the words of the teacher Mother had worn he went off to the war And died there with honor, somewhere on a beach there
But he left once to return to his stupid girl Which taught me that I should unlearn
Whatever I thought a father should be I abandoned that thought like he bandoned me

By '47, I was fourteen I'd acquired a taste for liquor and nicotine I smoked until I threw up, yet I still lit 'em up For thirty more years, like a machine So right there you have it That one filthy habit Is what got me where I am today I can smell the death on the sheets Covering me I can't believe this is the end I can hear the sad memories Still haunting me So many things I'd do again But this is my deathbed I lie here alone If I close my eyes tonight I know I'll be home Got married on my twenty-first Eight months before my wife would give birth It's easier to be sure you love someone When a father inquires with the barrel of a gun

The union was far from harmonious No two people could've been more alone than us The years would go by and she'd love someone else And I'd realized I hadn't been loved yet myself From there it's your typical spiel Yeah, if life was a highway, I was drunk at the wheel I was helpin' the loose ends all fall apart
Yeah, I swear I was destined to fail, and fail from the start

I bowled about six times a week A bottle of Beam kept the memories from me
Our marriage had taken a 7–10 split And along with my pride, the ex-wife took the kids I can smell the death on the sheets Covering me I can't believe this is the end I can hear those sad memories Still haunting me So many things I'd do again

But this is my deathbed I lie here alone If I close my eyes tonight I know I'll be home I was so scared of Jesus but he sought me out
Like the cancer in my lungs that's killing me now And I've given up hope on the days I have left But I cling to the hope of my life in the next Then Jesus showed up, said, "Before we go I thought that we might reminisce See, one night in your life, when you turned out the lights You asked for and prayed for my forgiveness
"You cried wolf; the tears they soaked your fur The blood dripped from your fangs
You said, 'What have I done?' You loved that lamb with every sinful bone And there you wept alone Your heart was so contrite "You said, 'Jesus, please forgive me of my crimes Sanctify this withered heart of mine Stay with me until my life is through
And on that day, please take me home with you' " I can smell the death on the sheets Covering me I can't believe this is the end I can hear you whisper to me "It's time to leave You'll never be lonely again"

But this was my deathbed I died there alone When I closed my eyes tonight You carried me home I am the way Follow me and take my hand And I am the truth Embrace me and you'll understand And I am the life And through me you'll live again For I am love
I am love I...I am love
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"Up And Up"

Yesterday Is not quite what it could've been As were most of all the days before
But I swear today With every breath I'm breathing in I'll be trying to make it so much more Cause it seems I get so hung up on The history and what's gone wrong And the hope of a new day Is sometimes hard to see (what you see)
And though I'm finally catching onto it And now the past is just a conduit
And the light there at the end is Where I'll be Cause I'm on the up and up
I'm on the up and up And I haven't given up Given up on what I know I'm capable of And I'm on the up and up I'm on the up and up Yeah there's nothing left to prove Cause I'm just trying to be A better version of me For you A better version of me For you To be prosperous Would not require much of me You see ontentment is the one thing It entails To be content with where I am And getting where I need to be I'm moving past the past Where I have failed But I'm finally catching onto it And now the past is just a conduit Right there at the end Is where I'll be Oh Cause I'm on the up and up I'm on the up and up And I haven't given up Given up on what What I've gained from love And I'm on the up and up
I'm on the up and up Yeah there's nothing left to prove Cause I'm just trying to be
A better version of me For you A better version of me For you You never cease To supply me with What I need For a good life So when I'm down I'll hold my head up high Cause you're the reason why I'm on the up and up I'm on the up and up And I haven't given up Given up on what What I've gained from love And I'm on the up and up I'm on the up and up Yeah there's nothing left to prove Cause I'm just trying to be A better version of me For you (Trying to be a better version of me for you)Oh