The Mud Knows My Name

The Mud Knows My Name

I don’t belong to the mud, but the mud knows my name.

V1

The bell rang crooked in a room full of smoke

The ref had a grin like the verdict was wrote

They sold front-row seats to the blood I would spill

So I bet on myself, like a damn fool still

V2

I thought I could leave with my hands in the air

Hang up my bruises like art on the stairs

Call it a victory, clean as a prayer

But you don’t beat the ring by pretending it ain’t there

Pre1

If getting out was winning, why’d my heart still ache

If I left the fight behind me, what did I really escape

Chorus

I don’t belong to the mud, but the mud knows my name

I learned how to laugh with a mouth full of flame

I stayed in the ring when they rigged up the game

I came out dirty, but I came out changed

V3

I scrubbed in a motel sink till my knuckles bled red

Tried washing the ghosts out from under my bed

Put on a clean shirt, looked almost alive

Then missed the old stains like they taught me to survive

V4

Clean felt expensive, like a preacher’s good shoes

Like church-house dancing in steel-toed boots

I smiled in the mirror, said, “Sir, who are you”

He said, “Just the costume they sold you as new”

V5

So I went back out where the hard rain hums

Where shame keeps time on a busted-up drum

Where mud has a mouth and calls me son

Where every bad choice knows where I’m from

Pre2

If I lose every stain, do I lose what I survived

If I bury the dirt, does the buried thing stay alive

Chorus

I don’t belong to the mud, but the mud knows my name

I learned how to laugh with a mouth full of flame

I stayed in the ring when they rigged up the game

I came out dirty, but I came out changed

V6

There’s a boy in my ribs with his fists tucked tight

Still swinging at shadows in the kitchen light

He says, “Don’t trust quiet, don’t sleep too deep”

I say, “Kid, I love you, but you don’t drive the jeep”

V7

The game had loaded dice and a velvet host

Sold me my fear, then he called it a toast

I paid for the ticket, I bled for the show

Then blamed my own feet for the trap down below

V8

But mud ain’t a crown, and pain ain’t a throne

A scar is a map, not the deed to my home

I can fight from the dirt without marrying shame

I can answer the bell without worshiping blame

Pre3

If the ring made me honest, can I fight without hate

If the mud knows my story, does it get to choose my fate

Chorus

I don’t belong to the mud, but the mud knows my name

I learned how to laugh with a mouth full of flame

I stayed in the ring when they rigged up the game

I came out dirty, but I came out changed

V9

Now I fight for the kid with his lunch in his fist

For the girl counting exits before her first kiss

For the man cracking jokes while his ribs come apart

For the ones who survived by hiding their heart

V10

I don’t need spotless, I need something true

A hand I can hold when the sirens come through

A reason to stand when my knees won’t agree

A God with a towel who ain’t scared to touch me

V11

I’ve rolled in the mud, and I’ve crawled back again

Lost Sunday mornings to low-rent sins

But dirt on my boots ain’t dirt in my soul

Sometimes a wild thing is learning control

Pre4

If I fight for love, can the fight become prayer

If I’m still covered in mud, can I still meet grace there

Chorus

I don’t belong to the mud, but the mud knows my name

I learned how to laugh with a mouth full of flame

I stayed in the ring when they rigged up the game

I came out dirty, but I came out changed

V12

Leave the gate open, I’m not running through

I’m done calling escape what I’m scared to do

I’ll stand in the sawdust with blood on my lip

Bless what broke me, then learn how to build it

V13

The crowd wants a knockout, the devil wants rent

My pride wants a statue for all I resent

I want a porch light, black coffee, and rain

To say I carried the mud, but I broke the chain

but the mud knows my name

V14

Now when the bell rings, I don’t flinch like before

I don’t make every bruise keep score anymore

I step to the center, let the old ghosts complain

Then laugh with my teeth full of thunder and rain

Pre5

If I stop trying to leave, can I finally arrive

If the mud knows my name, can I still come alive

Chorus

I don’t belong to the mud, but the mud knows my name

I learned how to laugh with a mouth full of flame

I stayed in the ring when they rigged up the game

I came out dirty, but I came out changed

Bridge

I used to pray, “Make me clean, make me new”

Now I pray, “Make me honest with what I’ve been through”

There’s holy in the dirt when truth hits the ground

There’s mercy in the mess if I stop looking down

I am not my worst day

I am not my old chain

I am not the mud

But the mud knows my name

Final Chorus

I don’t belong to the mud, but the mud knows my name

I learned how to laugh with a mouth full of flame

I stayed in the ring when they rigged up the game

I came out dirty, but I came out changed

Tell me, who gets clean without carrying the stain

Nobody, nobody, nobody walks out the same

Outro

The mud knows my name

But it don’t own my name

The mud knows my name

But I’m walking out changed

I don’t belong to the mud, but the mud knows my name