What Are You Gonna Do
What Are You Gonna Do
What Are You Gonna Do is a hard-driving Texas blues rock song about the moment when running out of road means finally facing yourself.
With the law closing in and a lifetime of bad choices catching up, the song doesn't offer its central character an easy escape. Every excuse, every lie and every attempt to hide has led back to the same place. The repeated question — what are you gonna do when the law comes calling? — becomes less a threat than a demand for an answer.
Underneath the grit, however, there is a second message: consequences don't have to be the end of the story. “Own up now” is followed by “New day starts today.” The way forward begins with accepting what you've done and deciding what you're going to do next.
Driven by a fast two-step shuffle, bottleneck slide guitar, growling tube amps, Hammond B3, baritone sax and walking upright bass, the track carries the sweaty swagger of a 1970s blues-rock band playing together in one room.
It's rough, restless and defiant — a song about bad roads, hard lessons, and the possibility of a better direction once you finally stop running.
Music video
Lyrics
Woke up to the boots on the stairs
Law on the corner, cold in the air
You took that turn with your name in the dust
Now every bad choice is catching up
You can run through the rain
You can hide in the smoke
But the truth got your tracks
And it won’t let go
What are you gonna do
What are you gonna do
When the law comes calling?
What are you gonna do
What are you gonna do
When the walls start falling?
Own up now
Own up now
New day starts today
What are you gonna do
What are you gonna do
When the law comes calling?
Spent too long with your back to the mirror
Hands full of fear and a pocket full of lies
Every road you took led straight to the same place
Same hard lesson in a harder disguise
You can beg for a break
You can curse the sky
But the debt keeps walking
Right behind your eyes
What are you gonna do
What are you gonna do
When the law comes calling?
What are you gonna do
What are you gonna do
When the walls start falling?
Own up now
Own up now
New day starts today
What are you gonna do
What are you gonna do
When the law comes calling?
Face it, son
Say it plain
There’s a price to the fire
There’s a name on the chain
No more circles
No more smoke
If you want that sunrise
You’ve got to choke down the choke
What are you gonna do
What are you gonna do
When the law comes calling?
What are you gonna do
What are you gonna do
When the walls start falling?
Own up now
Own up now
New day starts today
What are you gonna do
What are you gonna do
When the law comes calling?
