[Intro: spoken low over fire crackle] The fire is low. Somebody's standing in the dark. [Verse 1: half-spoken, slow] Fifteen years of iron taught the stone to hold its tongue Names stay in the mouth that keeps them Debts stay paid when paying's done [Instrumental: engine idle, slide guitar] [Verse 2] Woke beneath the city's leavings dirt and bottle glass and bone Ghost was idling at the curbside and the pack said, ride on home [Chorus: low, sung] Out past the firelight where the headlight dies something stands and watches how the living live their lives Never any closer never on the run Ghost Step on the highway gone before the sun [Verse 3] Found her at the truck stop five days dead and playing wise Didn't bite when biting paid her that's the measure, that's the prize [Bridge: whispered, colder, not louder] Don't raise your voice the desert hears It takes its payment from whatever runs [Instrumental: one cold distorted note, a single heavy stamp, silence] [Chorus: low, sung] Out past the firelight where the headlight dies something stands and watches how the living live their lives Never any closer never on the run Ghost Step on the highway gone before the sun [Outro: spoken, engine fading away] Breathe in. The road is open.
