[Intro] [Fingerpicked guitar, low fiddle drone, distant train bell] [Verse 1] Snow took the rooftops over Colter that year Blackwater whispers froze men to their fear Dutch kept a promise in a pocket of smoke Arthur rode quiet where the dawn first broke Hosea kept counsel by a lantern flame Cold iron rails kept time to our names [Chorus] Ride slow through Valentine dust, keep your powder dry Pray soft in Rhodes where magnolias sigh Saint Denis windows shine like a river of gold But trouble rides quicker than stories get told Raise your hat to the ones we lost along the line God keep the hearts the Pinkertons couldn’t find [Verse 2] Shady Belle settled by the cypress and reeds Kamassa ran heavy with secrets and deeds Cornwall wrote letters in the ink of coal Men drew their wages from a company soul Sadie rode fire through the bayou’s breath John marked a future at the edge of death [Chorus] Ride slow through Valentine dust, keep your powder dry Pray soft in Rhodes where magnolias sigh Saint Denis windows shine like a river of gold But trouble rides quicker than stories get told Raise your hat to the ones we lost along the line God keep the hearts the Pinkertons couldn’t find [Verse 3] Annesburg hollered with the thunder of mines Roanoke pines held the shape of our lines Eagle Flies carried a storm in his cry Rains Fall watched thunder go limping by Guarma remembered with a sugarcane sting Every dark wave took a piece of our ring [Bridge] Arthur on the ridgeline, dawn in his hands Micah’s cold shadow on the mountain stands A horse’s last whisper, a last goodbye Breath like a prayer to a merciful sky [Verse 4] Beaver Hollow secrets where the truth turned thin Campfire ashes and a needled grin We climbed out bleeding but we carried the tune Chasing a promise like a runaway moon Beecher’s Hope hammered a steadier light Abigail and Jack in the cottonwood night [Chorus – final] Ride slow through Valentine dust, keep your powder dry Pray soft in Rhodes where magnolias sigh Saint Denis windows shine like a river of gold But mercy rides truer than stories get told Raise your hat to the ones we lost along the line God keep the hearts the Pinkertons couldn’t find [Outro] [Fiddle sigh, harmonica answer, guitar cadence] Somewhere a boxcar hums beneath the pines And the rails remember every name in time
