[Intro] [guitar boom-chuck in 2/4, soft fiddle pickup] The Kamassa turned like a silver rope We saddled our doubts and packed our hope [Verse 1] Colter’s eaves wore sugar frost Blackwater rumor counted the cost A freckled man with a birthmark sign Spoke of circles cut in mountain pine Francis drew constellations on the ground Said the years run strange where the stones are found We tipped our hats at the hungry wind And rode toward pictures carved thin as skin [Chorus] Keep your pocket watch loose in your vest Let the river be judge of the rest [Verse 2] Valentine mud on a Sunday boot Saint Denis lamps like rows of fruit At Hani’s chapel a bluish flare Lit a hymn that was not from here Mount Shann hummed with a mothering buzz Like bees in winter doing what they does We counted glyphs by the lantern’s bite The hours bent sideways out of sight [Chorus] Keep your pocket watch loose in your vest Let the river be judge of the rest [Bridge] [embers crackle, harmonica line answers] The Strange Man’s coat never gathered dust He smiled like someone a town could trust By the Kamassa bend his shadow split Two footprints ended where one should sit [Verse 3] Rhodes told secrets under magnolia breath Annesburg sang at the mouth of death Eagle Flies raised thunder in his cry Rains Fall watched clouds remember why A steamer whistled earlier than it ought Cornwall’s ledger swore it had been bought By Thursday sun on a Tuesday noon The clerk wrote Paid with a trembling spoon [Chorus] Keep your pocket watch loose in your vest Let the river be judge of the rest [Break] [light heel taps, distant whistle] Agnes Dowd’s song in the cypress rain Fell once, fell twice, then fell again Nigel swore Gavin just passed through Said Yesterday looked brand new [Verse 4] Shady Belle sagged by the moss-hung bank Sadie rode fire where the grass lay lank John cut posts for a homestead line Jack read meanings in a hawk’s slow sign We heard the trestle ring like a bell Guarma burned in a seashell smell Micah’s grin was a knife kept warm Dawn took Arthur in quiet form [Chorus] Keep your pocket watch loose in your vest Let the river be judge of the rest [Outro] [guitar softens, fiddle holds a high note] Beecher’s Hope rose board by board A kinder clock in a single chord If time comes round like a wagon wheel Brand it honest and set it to heal [Tag] (Count it, boys) [soft train bell] One breath forward, two back behind Lemoyne keeps faith with a wandering time
