Cold to the Bone

Single, 2023

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Chorus

Red skin two horns and a tail

I'll be damned I'm in the pits of hell

Last I remember I was in Nashville

Making runs through the devil hills

City gets real people get killed for a twenty dollar bill

Sell your soul make a deal

Life gets grim everything is a sin everybody going for the win

But you're set to lose my life set for cruise control

To the crossroads to sell my soul

Shotgun to the head your mind gets blown (blown)

Six six six feet down must feel cold to the bone

Verse 1

Pick up the phone last chance to talk to your Kiddo

I'm lightyears away but I'm finally home

I can't get back my soul I sold

Everything in my life has brought me to this road

When I think about the past it's gone

I got to walk this road alone

Chorus

Red skin two horns and a tail

I'll be damned I'm in the pits of hell

Last I remember I was in Nashville

Making runs through the devil hills

City gets real people get killed for a twenty dollar bill

Sell your soul make a deal

Life gets grim everything is a sin everybody going for the win

But you're set to lose my life set for cruise control

To the crossroads to sell my soul

Shotgun to the head your mind gets blown (blown)

Six six six feet down must feel cold to the bone

Verse 2

This can't be for real

I'm facing the red skin horned tail devil

Asking me to sell my soul

And sign a deal

The bottom says sign at your own free will

Sign with your blood

So I bled

He said I'll be waiting for you when you're dead

Meaning & Analysis

Cold to the Bone is a crossroads story: selling your soul to the devil, told from the other side. The chorus wakes up in hell (red skin, two horns and a tail) with the last memory being Nashville, "making runs through the devil hills" in a city where people get killed over a twenty-dollar bill. The second verse is the deal itself: a contract signed "at your own free will" in blood, and the devil saying he'll be waiting when you're dead. The first verse echoes Walk It Off ("pick up the phone, last chance to talk to your kiddo"), which ties the soul-selling to grief and regret. "Six six six feet down" combines the grave with the number of the beast.

Lyric Annotations

To the crossroads to sell my soul

A nod to the old blues legend of a musician meeting the devil at a crossroads and trading his soul for talent.

Last I remember I was in Nashville / Making runs through the devil hills

The story starts at home in Nashville before he wakes up in hell.

Six six six feet down must feel cold to the bone

Joins the depth of a grave (six feet) with the number of the beast (666).

Sign with your blood / So I bled / He said I'll be waiting for you when you're dead

The deal is sealed in blood, and the devil collects at death.

Pick up the phone last chance to talk to your Kiddo

An echo of Walk It Off. The missed last phone call shows up again, tying the soul-selling to grief and regret.

Video

Credits

Written by: Reaper Man

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