[Style: Warm Appalachian acoustic folk, solo male vocal, acoustic guitar strumming, front porch storytelling] [Intro: Steady thumb-brush strum on an open-tuned acoustic guitar] [Spoken Intro - warm and conversational]: Well, you know they told us long ago... They’ll turn their backs and they’ll call you names just for walking in the light. Folks get restless when they can't make you stumble. Lord knows they’ll try, but a promise is a promise: Hold fast to the end, and you’ll find your way on home. [Verse 1]: Let the wind kick up the gravel on the road, Let the neighbors talk until the night grows cold. They’re building up their castles out of dry summer hay, Just waiting on a spark to blow it all away. [Chorus]: I got my two bare feet down in the good red clay, Ain't a storm born mean enough to wash my heart away. They throw their heavy shadows, but the sun is on my face, Standing on the promise, anchored in this place. [Interlude: Soft fingerpicked acoustic guitar] [Spoken Bridge - gentle, grounded]: You see, an anchor doesn't fight the water. It just rests down deep where the bottom doesn't move. Let the seasons turn their wheels. Let the weary world spin itself right on out. [Verse 2 / Outro]: Oh, they’ll hate you for the truth, honey, sure as morning dew, When you carry what the quiet spirit handed down to you. Let the winter grind on by, let the river rise and bend, I’ll just be sitting on this porch Standing firm until the end. [Outro: Trailing acoustic guitar strum to fade]
