High School Yearbook
Stockyard Stoics Lyrics

Same year as I in junior high is a kid with eyes of steel
There was a tough kid with a piercing stare in my junior high class.

Got a stare so full of glare and dare that you know just how he feels
His intense glare revealed his emotions and intentions clearly.

A ready rage beyond his age lives the wrong way down the street
He had an anger that was beyond his years and chose to live a rebellious life.

No tight belt and no tyrant cage can knock him off his feet
No form of authority or restraint could make him conform.

I don't know what is wrong with him and the older folks don't care
No one knew why he was the way he was, and the adults in the community had given up on him.

They just want him to move along and not hang out right there
They just wished for him to leave the area and not cause trouble.

Boy is getting older getting stronger getting colder
The boy was growing older and becoming tougher and more closed off emotionally.

He's on his way to the only place he should (or maybe only place he could) go
His actions were leading him down a self-destructive path, which may have been the only place he felt he belonged.

Go where you will not until you turn eighteen
Teenagers are often rebellious and engage in risky behavior before they become adults and face the consequences of their actions.

Some get high and just get by while other kids get mean
Some kids use drugs as a way to cope, while others become aggressive and violent.

Cigarettes and plastic bags across from the high school
There were drug deals happening near the high school, involving cigarettes as a packaging tool.

Slinging adolescent slag checking out the gene pool
People were engaging in casual sex and disregarding the consequences to their own health and the health of their future offspring.

Still see him every now and then in class for a day or two
The boy still occasionally came to class, but was not a consistent presence in school.

Or later in the parking lot with an eager ether crew
He would sometimes be seen in the parking lot with people who were looking to get high on ether.

Go off to work forty hours and more
After high school, many people enter the workforce, often taking on long hours.

My parents help to get me in at a friend-of-a-friend's store
The artist's family connections helped them secure a job at a local store.

And this kid nineteen same as me is in the news today
The boy, who was the same age as the artist, made headlines that day.

They found three bodies in the dirt off McKenzie Highway
The boy had been involved in a triple homicide.

15, 15, 13 years be still their beating hearts
The three victims were very young and their lives were cut short.

My classmate and two friends of his have torn their worlds apart
The boy, who was in the same grade as the artist, had destroyed the lives of his victims and their families.

They sent a priest to talk to him and find out what went wrong
Authorities brought in a priest to try to understand the boy's motives and reasoning.

And they taped every word and tear of that conversation
The conversation between the boy and the priest was recorded in order to uncover any useful information.

Now he's got no bills to pay no minimum wage petty task
The boy was likely sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and no longer had to worry about minimum wage jobs or other mundane tasks.

They will cook one meal for him exactly as he asks
He had one small consolation in prison, which was that he could request any meal he desired.

Boy is growing older learning faster feeling colder
The boy was continuing to age and was becoming more knowledgeable about the world, but was also becoming more emotionally detached and indifferent.

Maybe he's on his way to the only place he could go
It's possible that the boy was always meant to end up where he did, and there was no other fate for him.

And that boy was never meant to do anyone no good
From the beginning, the boy's life was never headed in a positive direction, and he would never make any positive contributions to society.