[INTRO — HARD OUTLAW VOODOO | 3/4 ~108 BPM | DREADNOUGHT | five-string bass | lazy snare] [TELECASTER: 1–♭3–4–5–6 | ♭5→5] [Female — Sarah, low alto] Verse 1 Palisade along the ridgeline. Earth piled shoulder-high. Rifle pits behind the orchard. Lookouts on the rise. Frye had four hundred guns there When we came across the plain. [Male — Captain] “We can breach the eastern wall.” [Female — Sarah] “Don't.” “We've got the men.” “I know.” “Then why are we here?” “Make them think we tried.” [TELECASTER: ♭5→5] Verse 2 [HARD 3/4] Winter rifles hit at sunrise. Men advanced along the wash. Frye poured fire from the east. [2/4 — BREAK] [Female] “Back.” [3/4] Frye's men cheered. [Male] “We nearly had them!” [Female] “Exactly.” Refrain [Female] Let them keep the fences. Let them keep the walls. Let them think we're bleeding For every foot that falls. [Male] “Then what are we fighting for?” [Female] “Look south and count the guns.” Every rifle Frye keeps calling Is a rifle that won't come. Verse 3 Four days later, eighty riders Came hard up the southern road. Sarah let them see the ranch first, Let them think they'd made it home. Then Winter guns behind the creek bed. Rifles from the ridge. Eighty rode toward Frye that morning. Forty-three crossed Frye's bridge. [Male] “You knew they'd come that way?” [Female] “No. I knew they'd come some way.” Verse 4 One month became another. Frye dug deeper in the ground. Every week the south sent rifles. Every week we cut them down. Hit the weak ones. Dodged the strong ones. Then attacked the ranch again. [2/4] [Female] “Back.” [3/4] Frye sent another wire: SEND MORE MEN. Verse 5 [ARRANGEMENT THINS] Three Winter captains found her Bent above the map one night. [Male] “We've been here two months. We deserve to know why.” [Female] “Yes. You do.” “Frye had four hundred. Now?” [Male] “Twelve hundred.” [Female] “Where'd eight hundred come from?” “South.” “And where aren't they?” [PAUSE] [Male] “South.” [TELECASTER: 5→6] [Female] “Now you're seeing it.” Verse 6 [Female] “Every man they send to Frye Leaves somewhere else exposed. Every wagon feeding Frye Isn't feeding southern posts. Every week they think I'm failing— They help me do it themselves.” [Male] “So we don't take Frye?” [Female] “Not yet.” “Can we?” “Probably.” “Then why?” “Once we own it, they stop coming.” Instrumental [TELECASTER: 1–♭3–4–5–6 | ♭5→5] [3/4 → 2/4 BREAK → 3/4] Verse 7 New captains came from Red Creek. Granite riders joined in June. Each one asked the same damn question. Sarah showed them what she knew. Enemy strength. Supply roads. Losses. What she meant to make them do. [Male] “Still think she's crazy.” “You leaving?” “Hell no. Didn't say she's wrong.” Bridge [SPARSE 3/4] [Male — older captain] “Your father would've ordered us And told us not to ask.” [Female] “My father knew more than I do.” [Male] “Maybe. But you answer.” [Female] “You're risking your men. You ought to know what for.” [TELECASTER: 5→6] Verse 8 Summer burned the grass to yellow. Frye's earthworks doubled wide. Winter guns still struck each morning, Never from the same side. South kept feeding men and powder. Sarah kept the pressure on. Frye believed the ranch was holding. [Female] “Let him.” Final Refrain [Female] Let them keep the fences. Let them keep the walls. Let them tell the Seven Counties How Sarah Winter stalls. Let them count the ground we're losing. Let them celebrate each one. Every rifle Frye keeps calling Is a rifle that won't come. [Male] “When do we take the ranch?” [Female] “When they stop sending men.” “And if they never stop?” [Female — almost amused] “Then let them keep it.” Outro [DRUMS DROP] Sarah moves another marker Toward Frye Ranch. Looks at the empty place it left behind. [Male] “What are you looking at?” [TELECASTER: 1–♭3–4–5–6] [Female] “What's behind them.” [TELECASTER: ♭5→5] [CUT]
