[Verse 1] Born where the fields ran long A sister gone too soon Then father slipped away Before he learned to shave Fourteen and carrying bread For hands that stayed at home He left for city smoke And slept at his aunt's door [Pre-Chorus] He wrote his mother little Saw her in passing light Took work with tired hands And kept the family alive [Chorus] Hold on, hold on Through the salt and stone Hold on, hold on You carry the whole road Hold on, hold on When the waves come hard Hold on, hold on You carry the whole road [Verse 2] Then came the navy call And cold Atlantic decks Convoy after convoy Through iron weather checks War took his father's face War took his mother's breath He came back to the house With grief still on his chest [Pre-Chorus] He buried love in silence Still tied the knot again A widow by his side A family to defend [Chorus] Hold on, hold on Through the salt and stone Hold on, hold on You carry the whole road Hold on, hold on When the waves come hard Hold on, hold on You carry the whole road [Bridge] Three years old, then gone Tuberculosis won Two more names in the forties Kept falling, one by one Still he set the table Still he kept the light Still he held the line Through every broken night [Final Chorus] Hold on, hold on Through the salt and stone Hold on, hold on You carry the whole road Hold on, hold on If the sea takes all Hold on, hold on You still stand tall Hold on, hold on Through the salt and stone Hold on, hold on You carry the whole road
