Lyrics

"I Never Clock Out"
By Yves Stilmant © 2025
Verse 1A
Up at dawn with a tune in my head
Coffee's cold but the words ain't dead
While some folks punch a timecard in
I'm chasing lines with a ballpoint pen
Verse 1B
My hands don't blister from steel or stone
But I carry the weight of a life alone
When the world goes quiet, that's my cue
To make the noise I was born to do
Pre-Chorus
Can't flip a switch, can't shut it down
My mind's a train that won't slow down
Chorus
I never clock out, not from this life
Not from the heartache, the song, or the fight
It's blood in the ink, it's truth in the sound
I carry the silence, then write it all down
Might not wear boots caked in red dirt
But I bleed through every verse
This ain't just work --
I never clock out
Verse 2A
Studio walls know all my sins
Chasing ghosts through these chords again
My family's learned to read my eyes
When I drift off into rhyme
Verse 2B
I ain't the man they write in books
But I've lived enough for second looks
Still laying bricks in a song-built home
Built with six strings and a microphone
Pre-Chorus
There's no end bell, there's no last call
Just one more track before I fall
Chorus
I never clock out, not from this road
Not from the love I still haven't told
It's worn-out dreams and melodies loud
Even alone, I sing to the crowd
I might not sweat in the sun each day
But I earn every note I play
This ain't just work --
I never clock out
Bridge (instrumental guitar solo - 8 bars)
(Soaring with grit, soulful bends -- like a craftsman hammering steel, but with strings)
Final Chorus (Extended)
I never clock out, not from this grind
Not from the ache that's still on my mind
It's ink-stained hands and midnight fire
Chasing that one line I still desire
Maybe someday they'll play my song
And know this work was right all along
This ain't just work --
No, this ain't just work --
I never clock out
Outro
Turn off the lights, but the song still plays
'Cause some of us are built this way