Rugged Country
Rugged Country Reflections: Loneliness, Hope, and the Heavy Hand of Fate
Lyrics
666 sixteen-year-old kids
Reference to a group of 666 sixteen-year-old kids
Huddled around the grocery lot
Group gathered in a grocery lot
"He punched out my teeth"
Claim of physical assault, "He punched out my teeth"
So you said, so did the evidence
Confirmation of the claim and evidence
The blood and the dent
Reference to blood and dent from the assault
On the car door from your head
Description of damage on the car door
This is where I bring you
Speaker's intention to bring someone to a specific place
With every laurel I've hung from your neck
Speaker mentioning laurels hung around the person's neck
It will be the noose that hangs you
Warning that the laurels will become a noose
Yes, it will be the noose that hangs you
Reiteration that the laurels will be the noose
'Cause I was lonely here and it's lonely still
Speaker's loneliness in the past and present
In the rugged country where the weeds grow fierce
Description of the challenging and harsh environment
Quicker than the crop I keep running from
Weeds growing quicker than crops, symbolic of difficulties
In this rugged country
Reference to the rugged country, repeating the challenges
I'm the rugged one
Repetition emphasizing the speaker as the rugged one
I'm the rugged one
-I'm the rugged one
-I'm the rugged one
-And this is where we lost you
Location where someone was lost despite efforts to bring them back
Despite every effort to bring you back
Despite efforts, hope is haunting, and home is restrictive
Yeah, the hope's the one that haunts you
Hope is haunting, and home is a restrictive force
And the home's the rope that's wrapped 'round your neck
Home is depicted as a noose wrapped around the person's neck
And it will be the noose that hangs you
Reiteration that the home will be the noose
Yes it will be the noose that hangs you
(Refrain)
And it's a heavy hand where I wear your death
Speaker carries the weight of the person's death like a wedding ring
As a wedding ring in the rugged country
Reference to the rugged country as a place of marriage and death
I tend to your man in the home you had
Speaker caring for the person's man in their home
Oh, in this rugged country
Reiteration of challenges in the rugged country
I'm the rugged one
Repetition emphasizing the speaker as the rugged one
I'm the rugged one
-I'm the rugged one
-I'm the rugged one
(Refrain)
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