Stories They Still Tell

There's an old wreck sittin' just off the reef, You'll scrape it at low tide if you drift too deep They say he pushed her hard tryin' to beat that storm, Ran her up too close where the breakers form Swore he buried somethin' where the shoreline bends, Left a mark on a rock no one's found since then Every few years somebody claims they know— but they come back quiet… or they don't come home Stories they still tell ain't the way it all went down, They're the ones that get a little bigger every time they come back around Somewhere between the truth and the version they like best… That's the one that stays with you— yeah, that's the one that gets told next There was a guy passed through with a chart he swore by, Edges all curled and the ink run dry He'd tap on the table say "this right here"— but it never quite lined up with what was there Said the shoreline shifts more than folks admit, Maps just guess where the edges sit Some of those coves got names that stuck— but you won't find 'em now unless you get lucky Stories they still tell ain't the way it all went down, They're the ones that get a little bigger every time they come back around Somewhere between the truth and the version they like best… That's the one that stays with you— yeah, that's the one that gets told next There's a guy still playin' at the end of the pier, Same beat-up case and a half-tuned six-string Says he almost made it off this island once— laughs every time he gets to that thing He'll point to a stool say "you were right there," even if you know that ain't quite true But after a round or two you start to think— yeah… maybe I was there too Yeah… you can hear 'em drift on a night wind low, Through open doors where the salt air blows The wreck's still out there, the chart's still wrong— Nobody stops to set it straight That's not why the stories stay Stories they still tell ain't the way it all went down, They're the ones that get a little bigger every time they come back around Somewhere between the truth and the version they like best… That's the one that stays with you— yeah, that's the one that gets told next Somewhere between the truth… and the version they like best… Yeah... that's the one they tell.