Where The North Wind Knows My Name

[INTRO — Low winter wind moving through bare trees. Sparse fingerpicked acoustic guitar in 6/8. A distant, breathy male high-lonesome yodel rises and falls like a gust. No drums.] [Soft wordless male yodel, distant and restrained] Ooh-ee-yo… ooh-ee-yo… [VERSE 1 — MALE SOLO, WARM WEATHERED COUNTRY BARITONE] The wind came knocking after midnight, Found the crack beneath my door. Moved the ribbon on a package I’d been meaning to send before. It rattled every empty window, Made the Christmas candles lean. Like it had a hundred stories From the places it had been. I asked if it had crossed the mountains, If it knew that little town. If it passed my family’s windows Where the snow was coming down. [PRE-CHORUS — Pedal steel enters, soft rising wind] It answered through the chimney, In a language without words. And somewhere in that hollow sound, I swear I almost heard… [CHORUS — LILTING HIGH-LONESOME COUNTRY MELODY] North wind, north wind, Tell me where you’ve been. Did you touch the frosted windows Of the house I grew up in? Did you carry children’s laughter Past the church on Christmas Eve? Did you leave a little piece of home Somewhere here with me? North wind, north wind, If you’re going back again, Take a little of my heart To the place where I began. [SOFT YODEL REFRAIN — MALE, AIRY AND MELANCHOLIC] Ooh-ee-yo… ooh-ee-yo… Carry me home… ooh-ee-yo… [VERSE 2 — ACOUSTIC GUITAR, WARM UPRIGHT BASS, GENTLE FIDDLE] The wind said nothing, kept on moving, Through the branches overhead. Stirred the photographs beside me Of the living and the dead. I remembered Christmas mornings When the windows turned to white. How we’d race to see the snowfall In the blue before daylight. Now I know the years keep turning, And no road can take me back To every face around that table Or the childhood that we had. But there’s still a house with people Who would open up the door. And I’ve spent too many Decembers Wishing I was there once more. [CHORUS — MORE EMOTIONAL, RESTRAINED STRINGS] North wind, north wind, Tell me where you’ve been. Did you touch the frosted windows Of the house I grew up in? Did you carry children’s laughter Past the church on Christmas Eve? Did you leave a little piece of home Somewhere here with me? North wind, north wind, If you’re going back again, Take a little of my heart To the place where I began. [INSTRUMENTAL — Fiddle and pedal steel trade a gentle descending melody. Wind sounds weave between phrases.] [BRIDGE — PIANO AND GUITAR ONLY, CLOSE INTIMATE VOCAL] I used to think the wind was lonely, Always leaving, never staying. But maybe it’s the only thing That knows the road I’ve been delaying. It doesn’t need a map or reason, Doesn’t ask how long I’ve gone. It finds the mountains every winter And keeps on singing through the pines. So I opened up the window, Let December fill the room. And for once I wasn’t asking For the wind to take me too. I was listening for the answer To a question I already knew. [SOFT YODEL — ALMOST WHISPERED, TWO SHORT PHRASES] Ooh-ee-yo… Ooh-ee-yo… [FINAL CHORUS — QUIET DETERMINATION, FIDDLE AND GENTLE HARMONIES] North wind, north wind, I know where you’ve been. You’ve been winding through the valleys Where my story first began. You can carry all the laughter, You can shake the Christmas trees. But next year when you cross those mountains, You won’t have to look for me. North wind, north wind, When December comes again, I’ll be standing in that doorway With the people I’ve been missing. [OUTRO — ACOUSTIC GUITAR AND WIND, SLOWLY FADING] And when the wind comes through the pines, I’ll know that old familiar sound. [Soft high-lonesome yodel] Ooh-ee-yo… ooh-ee-yo… This time I’ll be home When the snow comes down. [END — Wind fades into a single distant church bell.]