Wrong Way Home

MINERVA IN THE PINES [Verse 1 ] Big Wheel King on the trailer park roads Dust in my teeth where the summer wind blows Minerva whispers from the edge of the trees The old folks talking of impossible things A monster sighted in seventy-eight Towering shadow by the county lake Years had passed but the stories remained Like rusted nails driven deep in my brain [Pre-Chorus] Now I'm twenty and riding alone Truck in pieces, pedal power home Sun going down, shortcut through the wood The kind of decision that seemed pretty good [Chorus] Minerva! Waiting in the dark tonight Minerva! Beyond the reach of my light Something watches where the black roots twist Ancient eyes behind the evening mist Minerva! Calling through the dying day Minerva! I should have gone the other way The woods remember what the town forgot And they know exactly where I am not [Verse 2] Blade road vanished behind the trees The trail broke apart into memories Headlight carving a tunnel through black Every turn looked like the way back Branches clawing at my shoulders and face Every shadow moving out of place Crickets silent, the air turned still The kind of silence that can make you ill [Pre-Chorus] Then I heard it beyond the pines Not a voice and not a cry A sound like mountains learning how to breathe A sound that made me want to leave [Chorus] Minerva! Waiting in the dark tonight Minerva! Beyond the reach of my light Something watches where the black roots twist Ancient eyes behind the evening mist Minerva! Calling through the dying day Minerva! I should have gone the other way The woods remember what the town forgot And they know exactly where I am not [Bridge] Maybe it wasn't ape or beast Maybe something older still A thing that crawled from nameless stars To sleep beneath the Ohio hills Not flesh, not fur, not blood, not bone A shape the darkness made its own Watching generations pass From trailer parks to graveyard grass I felt it move between the trees Just beyond my certainty A presence vast and cold and blind Turning one impossible eye toward mine [Solo] [Final Verse] Pedals turning like a prayer wheel spun Begging for dawn before the sun Headlight shaking across the leaves Certain something was following me Then the trees gave way at last The forest released me from its grasp But even now when daylight dies I remember those impossible eyes [Final Chorus] Minerva! Waiting in the dark tonight Minerva! Beyond the reach of my light Something watches where the black roots twist Ancient eyes behind the evening mist Minerva! Calling through the dying day Minerva! I should have gone the other way From the Big Wheel roads to the man I've become I still hear footsteps when the woods twist and moan [Outro] The trail is gone... The fear remains... And something still walks... The Minerva trails....