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Air to Breathe

BurdenWearinessRestComfort

A porch-light folk confession about the city a father fled and the one he built at his own supper table — seven days on generational sin, honest repentance, and the God who breaks the proverb so our children can breathe clean air.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28

A song for the road you're on.

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Lyrics

Air to Breathe
Dirt Road Gospel Music
DirtRoadGospelMusic.com

[Verse 1]
I walked out of the twin cities at seventeen
With a duffel bag, a scar, and a vow
Said I'd raise my kids where the air runs clean
Far away from the fire and the crowd
I nailed up a house on higher ground
Hung a cross on the kitchen wall
But a man can move a thousand miles
And never leave the city at all

[Chorus]
'Cause I built a city with my own two hands
Brick by brick from the one I fled
Pride sat down at my supper table
Wearing my face, eating my bread
My children never saw Gomorrah
But they learned its songs from me
Lord, the smoke I thought I'd outrun
Is the air my babies breathe

[Verse 2]
Last night my boy laughed at the preacher
The same laugh I gave when I was his age
And it hit me like brimstone through the ceiling
He ain't rebelling — he's turning my page
I found my girl learning love from a screen light
'Cause borrowed love's the only kind I showed
And I stood in that hallway like Lot's wife
Frozen, looking back down the road

[Chorus]
'Cause I built a city with my own two hands
Brick by brick from the one I fled
Pride sat down at my supper table
Wearing my face, eating my bread
My children never saw Gomorrah
But they learned its songs from me
Lord, the smoke I thought I'd outrun
Is the air my babies breathe

[Bridge]
They say the fathers ate the sour grapes
And the children's teeth are set on edge
But You swore that old proverb dies
The soul that turns will live instead
So I'm turning, Lord, I'm turning
At my own table, on my knees

[Final Chorus]
Come tear down the city I built with my hands
Break it brick by brick to the ground
Sit Yourself down at my supper table
Let my children hear a different sound
They never saw Gomorrah
Don't let them learn its songs from me
Take the smoke I couldn't outrun
And give my babies air to breathe

[Outro]
Wash the city off my bloodline
Burn the title, burn the deed
Let the only fire on this house
Be the one that sets us free
Air to breathe... air to breathe...
Give my children air to breathe