Unknown Names

mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh Morning came like dirty dishwater, Cold enough to sting the bones, I carried coffee through the silence Of a town turned near to stone. Then I saw ‘em...though they were gone. Swaying slow in the early light… The Sheriff hanging there beside her Like they’d danced together through the night.. My Cup slipped from my hands to nowhere, Coffee bleeding through the dirt, And I stood there in that cold dawn I sware i heard that graveyard hum. Rosie’s hair blew red as autumn, Sheriff blue and pale… Cries sang in wind that day Sounded like the whole damned town began to wail. mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh So I buried what I didn't know Underneath the cottonwood trees, With Baby Blue and poor One-Eyed Joe Sleeping under the leaves. Cowboy cold beside his secrets, Vale beneath the rain-soaked roots… Lord, that graveyard filled so quickly With the souls this town chewed through. I cut the sheriff down real gentle, Laid his badge upon his chest, Thought about sweet Elsie waiting Maybe he will finally get some rest. He’d carried grief like chains around him Ever since his woman died… And Rosie wore her own like perfume Sweet enough for her sins to hide. I brushed the dirt back from her cheekbones, Fixed the curls beside her face, Thought about the night she came here Scared and hungry from that place. Men saw silk and painted lipstick, I saw something bruised clean through… God forgive me, I still loved her Like a daughter half broke loose. mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh So I buried what I didn't know beside ‘em Where the wild red roses grew, Near the girl in satin blue... Rosie always said she loved this view. No one asked too many questions, Folks round here know grief too well… And every soul in Silver Creek... Already carried their very own hell. Townfolk whispered all through Sunday, Said the sheriff lost his mind, Said he carried Elsies spirit Till he left this world behind. Others swore they died from sorrow, Loneliness, or whiskey dreams… Funny how the living always Need the dead to stay sweet and clean. Cause nobody wants the ugly truth, Not in towns like this one here… Truth can rot sour on the floorboards Worse than blood or guilt or fear. So I let ‘em talk and reckon, Let the rumors drift on through… While the dead kept all their secrets Like I figured dead folks do. mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh I buried Blue beneath the willow… Joe beneath the hill… Sheriff next to Elsie’s marker… Rosie rests next to Blue, both gone and still. Seemed right somehow.... Like maybe love survives Even when people don’t. Yeah I buried the truth i couldn't know Under Silver Creek’s hard sky, With the gambler and the horse thief And the drifter who would never ride. Every grave another story Their real names we never knew… And the wind still cries through Murphy’s For those lost and lonely few. Now Murphy’s sits near empty… Just a few lost souls left. But some nights I still pour whiskey For the ones the graveyard kept. And when the moon hangs low and crooked Past the broken saloon roof… I swear I hear Rosie laughing… While Joe still plays the room a tune. mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh mnnnmmnn ohh ohooh ohhh oh oh