Give Me My Life Back

I was born in the heartland, a small rural town;
No place profound, the kind you find all around.
Where neighbors know neighbors, have each other’s backs,
Always doin’ little favors, a community intact.

When I struck out on my own, lived by myself.
Didn’t like it alone, needed something else.
The holidays were the worst, like a curse I was dealt.
My spirit would thirst, from the emptiness I felt.

Up on a crane a steelworker, then a furniture man,
A union pipefitter, liked to work with my hands.
The only thing real bad I wanted to see,
Was be a dad with my own family.

Then I met Jess, my future turned bright.
Her daughters, Kaedance and Lainy, turned up the light.
Then along came Evy, what a beautiful child.
My loneliness so heavy, finally exiled.

For eight years we thrived, our lives complete.
This family of five, down on Main Street.
Had love, had it all, in the palm of my hands.
Thought I found that promised land.

[Chorus] Give me my life back, my dignity,
Nothing else means more to me.
I want the right to provide for my family,
Watch my daughters grow up to be,
Healthy and happy and free – give it back to me!

Then a freight train derailed, shook our home town;
My family’s whole world came crashing down.
The smoke, the smell, dead fish in the streams,
The chemicals they spilled, shattered our dreams.

Four people and a dog thrown in a one-room motel,
Twenty miles from home, four months in hell.
Blew through our savings, with forty bucks to our name,
Had to head back to our house, in East Palestine.

Scrubbing walls, stripping floors, hoping the doors
Would keep out the poison and pain.
Rugs, curtains and clothes, everything had to go,
But our love for each other remained.

Then the sicknesses came, the constant migraines,
Vomiting, nosebleeds, rashes unexplained.
When the kids heard about my heart givin’ out,
The breakdowns and meltdowns nearly drove them insane.

Though my heart disease, finally eased,
The bills just increased, kept pouring in.
But what really hurt, they wouldn’t let me back to work,
Put my hands in the dirt, be a pipefitter again.

With no healthcare or job, felt like I was robbed,
Betrayed, abandoned, deceived.
The EPA, Norfolk Southern, the politicians who govern;
There was no one left to believe.

Sometimes when I’m alone, sittin’ in my home,
Thinkin’, not knowin’ what would happen if I die.
My daughters’ hug and kiss,
The precious times I would miss.
At moments like this, I’d break down and cry.

Then Max and two Steves, Penny, Robin, Andrew all came,
So many who cared, too many to name.
With the victims of this crime,
Standin’ on the front lines, fightin’ for East Palestine!

[Chorus] Give me my life back, my dignity.
Healthcare ain’t the only thing I need.
I want the right to provide for my family,
Watch my daughters grow up to be
Healthy and happy and free – give it back to me!
Oh, give me my life back, my dignity.
Nothing else means more to me.
I want the right to provide, for my family,
With Jessica right next to me,
Our daughters, their families to be –
Give it back to me!

Lyrics & Music by:
Mike Stout
July, 2024