Let the Old Hours Fall

[Verse 1] These hands lay on the blanket Like roots pulled from the ground That clock up on the dresser Keeps pourin’ seconds down My children by the bedside Try to smile and hide the truth But them old pine boards keep talkin’ ’Bout the boy I was in my youth [Verse 2] I seen rivers jump their banks, child Seen dry fields beg for rain Seen laughter feed a poor house Seen money bring folks pain I ran wild when I was young Thought the world would bend for me But a hard road teach you gentle If you let that lesson be [Pre-Chorus] I laughed, I cried I ran, I fell Kept a few old secrets Like coins in a well Now the room leans close And the light turns low I ain’t scared of leavin’ Just hate to let y’all go [Chorus] Let the old hours fall Let the old hours fall I done lived a thousand lives And loved through ’em all Time, don’t you run too fast But don’t you crawl too slow Let the old hours fall When it’s my time to go [Verse 3] I kissed your mama laughin’ By a corner store gate She said, “Don’t blink now, baby” Life don’t never wait I seen her dance in summer With sunlight in her hair Then held that same sweet hand In the silence of a prayer [Verse 4] I held babies in the mornin’ Dug graves by settin’ sun Shared my coat with a stranger When the cold had us numb I crossed fields and floods Just to keep my family fed Wore them soles down to whispers On every road I tread [Bridge] I ain’t askin’ for forever Just one more look around One more porch full of thunder Real truth and mercy found If the road comes callin’ early I’ll go light as cinders do I been every kind of weather And I carried a little of you [Final Chorus] Let the old hours fall Let the old hours fall I done lived a thousand lives And loved you through ’em all Hold my hand a little longer Don’t you weep too low Let the old hours fall When it’s my time to go [Outro] That old clock keeps tickin’ Time dancin’ on the wall I close my weary eyes And hear the Delta call When I’m finally quiet Don’t think that I’m gone I’m just light as a lantern Driftin’ toward the river’s dawn