[Opening — immediate guitar and bass riff; drums enter after two bars] [Verse 1] Last little house at the edge of town Porch light fading as the road winds out Windows open, the morning comes in Dust on the dash and the smell of the wind Park at the trail where the pavement ends Nothing out here has to make amends Rock piled high under miles of blue I take one step and the world breaks loose [Pre-Chorus] Let the distance Set the pace I’ve been needing All this space [Chorus] In the name of the wild out here Let the wind run loud and clear For the hands that kept this ground For the ones still coming around Leave the stars where they belong Leave a place when we’re gone For a child we’ll never know To stand where we stood long ago [Verse 2] She lives down the road in a weathered place Knows every turn by the mountain’s shape Her father brought her when she was small Now her daughter walks ahead of us all Stops for a wrapper caught under a stone Puts it in her pocket, keeps moving on Says, “Come back tonight when the daylight goes There’s more to this place than the daytime shows” [Pre-Chorus] Years of footsteps Through this sand Love looks different When it lends a hand [Chorus] In the name of the wild out here Let the wind run loud and clear For the hands that kept this ground For the ones still coming around Leave the stars where they belong Leave a place when we’re gone For a child we’ll never know To stand where we stood long ago [Instrumental Break — driving bass and drums; spacious sustained guitar melody] [Bridge — quieter vocal; bass groove continues] Somebody fixed that washed-out trail Somebody stayed when the funding failed Somebody taught me to watch where I tread There’s more living here than I had in my head I came for a picture, stayed for the view Then met the people who see it through The work carries on when the visitors leave Now there’s a little of that work in me [Final Chorus — full band; open melodic delivery] In the name of the wild out here Let the wind run loud and clear For the hands that kept this ground For the ones still coming around Leave the stars where they belong Leave a place when we’re gone For a child we’ll never know To stand where we stood long ago [Outro — vocal over returning opening riff] One day they’ll walk beyond that bend Feel this wind against their skin Find their own way through the stones And have a story to carry home [Instrumental ending — repeating riff; decisive final stop]
