[Style: Slow Country Ballad, Acoustic Guitar, Soft Steel Guitar, Sparse Piano, Somber Male Vocals, Melancholic Atmosphere] [Mood: Heartbreaking, Reflective, Tragic] [Tempo: Slow] [Verse 1] In the fading light of an old farm porch Lies a battered tom with blood on his paws He brought them mice through winters cold and long Laid them gentle at his master's door But tonight the big rat won the fight And the old cat knows this is his final night [Chorus] Oh the years roll by like dust on the wind From a frightened kitten to a dying friend Coyotes took his mother when he was barely weaned He learned to fight alone for every scrap of life Now the farm is quiet and the stars grow dim As the old cat drifts where the lost ones swim [Verse 2] He remembers nights when the barn was warm Mother's soft fur kept him safe from the storm Then the howls came close and the blood ran red She was gone by dawn and he was left for dead No one held him close, no one taught him grace Just the endless hunger and the endless chase [Chorus] Oh the years roll by like dust on the wind From a frightened kitten to a dying friend Coyotes took his mother when he was barely weaned He learned to fight alone for every scrap of life Now the farm is quiet and the stars grow dim As the old cat drifts where the lost ones swim [Bridge] Every mouse he caught was a prayer for tomorrow Every scar on his hide was a debt he paid in sorrow He never asked for love, only a place to rest But the rat was stronger and the night is his last guest [Verse 3] His eyes grow heavy as the memories fade The master's footsteps he will never hear again No more soft meows at the kitchen door Just the cold earth waiting and the silence more He curls up tight where the porch boards creak And the old farm weeps for the soul too weak [Final Chorus] Oh the years roll by like dust on the wind From a frightened kitten to a dying friend Coyotes took his mother when he was barely weaned He learned to fight alone for every scrap of life Now the farm is quiet and the stars grow dim As the old cat drifts... where the lost ones swim [Outro] (Soft acoustic fade, distant steel guitar) Goodbye, old hunter... the porch is empty now
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