Absolutely — I’d make the guitar solo a prominent haunting slide-guitar solo right before the final chorus. PHANTOM RIDER [Intro – whispered, distant acoustic guitar] Out where the moon hangs low and pale, I heard a rider coming down the trail. No lantern burning, no voice in the night, Just a black horse running underneath the moonlight. Then I saw him there through the desert haze, A shadow wrapped in an old black blaze. He stopped his horse and looked my way— And I knew my soul was the price he'd come to claim. [Verse 1] I grabbed my Colt and I raised it high, Put a silver round beneath the midnight sky. I pulled that hammer, heard the thunder roar, But the Phantom just kept coming toward my door. I reached for my Winchester hanging on the wall, Sent a roar through the darkness, watched the shadows fall. Then I grabbed my shotgun, ready for the fight, But nothing could stop him riding through the night. [Pre-Chorus] Every hoofbeat shakes the ground, Every heartbeat is the only sound. Black clouds roll and the dead wind cries, And something wicked rides tonight. [Chorus] PHANTOM RIDER, COMING FOR MY SOUL! Riding through the darkness where the cold winds blow. Fire from his hooves, fire in his eyes, A shadow from the grave underneath black skies. I can fire every weapon that I've ever known, But nothing can stop him when he comes riding home. No wall, no door, no prayer, no light— PHANTOM RIDER'S COMING FOR ME TONIGHT! [Verse 2] His horse hit the ground and the earth caught fire, Flames from its hooves climbing higher and higher. Fire burned bright from those dead black eyes, And smoke curled upward toward the moonlit sky. The Phantom raised his head but he never said a word, Just that soulless sigh was the coldest thing I'd heard. He looked straight through me like I wasn't there, Like he'd already claimed me in the midnight air. [Pre-Chorus] I fired the Colt till the chambers ran dry, But the Phantom never even slowed his ride. The Winchester cracked like thunder in the rain, Still that black horse came galloping again. [Chorus] PHANTOM RIDER, COMING FOR MY SOUL! Riding through the darkness where the cold winds blow. Fire from his hooves, fire in his eyes, A shadow from the grave underneath black skies. I can fire every weapon that I've ever known, But nothing can stop him when he comes riding home. No wall, no door, no prayer, no light— PHANTOM RIDER'S COMING FOR ME TONIGHT! [GUITAR SOLO – 25 seconds Slow, mournful electric slide guitar begins over a distant heartbeat drum. The solo starts quiet and haunted, then climbs into screaming sustained notes before suddenly cutting to silence.] [Bridge – quiet] Maybe you can't outrun what's waiting in the dark, Maybe every soul carries its own black mark. I hear those hoofbeats getting closer now, I see that rider underneath the clouds. The fire's getting brighter… The night is closing in… The Phantom's at my doorway… And he's coming for me again. [FINAL CHORUS – EXPLOSIVE] PHANTOM RIDER, COMING FOR MY SOUL! Hear that black horse thunder as the night takes hold! Fire from his hooves, fire from his eyes, And that soulless sigh cuts through the night. My Colt's gone silent, my Winchester's down, My shotgun couldn't stop him from coming around. Nothing can stop him, nothing gets in his way— THE PHANTOM RIDER COMES FOR ANOTHER SOUL TODAY! [Outro – whispered, fading guitar] Hoofbeats fading… Fire burning low… But when the moon rises… The Phantom Rider rides again.
