Stray Dog

Verse 1

Found my name on a paper collar

Cracked and curled in the summer rain

Somebody wrote it a long time ago

Now it’s just ink and a stain

Nose to the wind for a memory

Chasing cars that don’t slow down

Every yard smells like another life

Every porch light looks like home somehow

Chorus

I’m a stray dog

Chewed-up heart and a crooked tail

Sleeping under old church stairs

Dreaming of a hand on my back

I’m a stray dog

Half a howl and a broken bark

Learning how to love the dark

’Cause I don’t know who’s coming back

Verse 2

Got a scar from a rusted fence

Jumped too fast when the thunder came

Learned that doors slam hard and quick

Learned that people forget your name

But that kid with the red lunchbox

Left a crust by the schoolyard gate

I still walk by at the same old time

Just in case he’s running late

Chorus

I’m a stray dog

Chewed-up heart and a crooked tail

Sleeping under old church stairs

Dreaming of a hand on my back

I’m a stray dog

Half a howl and a broken bark

Learning how to love the dark

’Cause I don’t know who’s coming back

Bridge

If you whistle soft

I might listen

If you kneel down slow

I might stay (hey)

I’ve been owned

I’ve been lost

I’ve been missing

But I still wag when I hear my name

Chorus

I’m your stray dog

Shaky legs on your front step

Trusting what I should forget

Leaning all my weight on your laugh

I’m your stray dog

If you write my name again

On a collar and call me friend

I’ll give you every heart I have