The Rider Never Spoke

[Intro] [Low-tuned acoustic guitar, slow gallop rhythm, harmonica hum in the background] [Verse 1] He came from the hills where the sky splits in two With a coat made of canvas and blood on his boot The town barely breathed as he tied off his reins And stared down the sheriff through cracked windowpanes [Verse 2] No one knew his name, but the pastor looked pale And the banker stepped back like he’d seen a veil At dusk he just waited by the saloon’s back door With a stare like a fire that burned through the floor [Chorus] The rider never spoke, but his eyes told the tale Of a town full of ghosts and a long-buried trail You can pray to the Lord or you can beg for your sins But the rider brings silence where justice begins [Verse 3] Some say he was kin to a man who was hanged For stealing two horses and shootin’ a man But the judge had been crooked, the jury was bought And the gallows still creaked with the price of that cost [Bridge] The sheriff went out with a drink in his hand Laughin' too loud, trying hard to look grand But a shot cracked once, and the sheriff was down And the rider was gone without one word or sound [Final Chorus] The rider never spoke, but the story still grows In the dust of the canyon and the wind where it blows Some say he’s an angel, some say just a man But he rides with the silence that justice demands [Outro] [Slide guitar echoes as hooves fade, harmonica closes with a single mournful note]