(Tempo: Steady, mid-tempo stomp) (Instrumentation: Resonator acoustic guitar, low upright bass, subtle foot-tamp) (Verse 1) There’s a wire humming low on the county line Cut across the limestone, marking out the time You can tell your easy stories, you can paint 'em up clean I can read the cold timber and the space in between I don't need a witness, I don't need a crowd Truth doesn't bargain when the thunder gets loud. (Chorus) It’s the beauty of the cedar on the broken stone Took the white-fire strike and it stood alone Split down the center where the sky came through Never fell an inch, only held what’s true Let the wind do the howling, let the hard rain pour Every scar on the bark just drove the roots in more. (Verse 2) Boots by the doorstep, dirt from the yard Peace isn't cheap when you pull it from the hard Folks run the highways just to chase their own tail Trading in their compass for a paper sail I watch the clouds roll, heavy and blue Iron in the red clay, knowing what to do. (Chorus) It’s the beauty of the cedar on the broken stone Took the white-fire strike and it stood alone Split down the center where the sky came through Never fell an inch, only held what’s true Let the wind do the howling, let the hard rain pour Every scar on the bark just drove the roots in more. (Bridge) (Fiddle comes in low and raspy) Fire burns off what was never meant to stay Leaves the marrow and the quiet where the shadows play Nothing to prove. Nothing to defend. Bedrock beginning. Bedrock end. (Chorus) It’s the beauty of the cedar on the broken stone Took the white-fire strike and it stood alone Split down the center where the sky came through Never fell an inch, only held what’s true Let the wind do the howling, let the hard rain pour Every scar on the bark just drove the roots in more. (Outro) Drove the roots in more. Down in the dark. Holding the ground. Standing sound. (Single guitar pluck, trail into silence)
