[Intro] [same sustained drone, wind, and distant nightbird texture as the album opener, no percussion] [spoken, slow and reverent, same cadence as the opening track] Before the names. Before the reasons. I told you I was always watchin'. Now let me show you who I kept. [Verse 1] [single slide guitar, sparse, mirroring the Prologue] I kept the dancer and her music I kept the judge and his decree I kept the miners and their lanterns Still not lit, but never free [Verse 2] [a second guitar layers in, low harmony, drums enter soft] I kept the father at the crossing I kept the whole of Jerome's light I kept the hitchhiker's white dress I kept the room that waits all night [Pre-Chorus] [building now, full band assembling piece by piece] Every name I ever mourned for Every grief I ever claimed Every one of them is with me Every one of them's the same [Chorus] [full weight arrives here for the first time, the album's main riff in full] I'm the hour between the heartbeat I'm the light that finds the lost I wax and wane so they don't wander Never knowin' what it cost They don't feel me on their shoulders They don't reckon what I've paid I'm the hour between the heartbeat And the vigil I have made [Instrumental Build] [layered reprise of melodic phrases from Birdcage Row, The Weeping Wash, and Vigil at Canyon Diablo woven together into one theme, drums and dual guitars at full intensity] [Bridge] [strips back briefly to just vocal and drone, one last quiet moment before the final push] I ain't the reason they are stayin' I ain't the door they can't walk through I just can't stop goin' dark for them And comin' back to grieve anew [building back in fast and massive] So here's the dancer, here's the judge now Here's the miner, here's the father Here's the rider, here's the drifter Every ghost I keep like the other [Final Chorus] [the heaviest moment on the entire album, full band, gang vocals, everything at once] I'M THE HOUR BETWEEN THE HEARTBEAT I'M THE LIGHT THAT FINDS THE LOST I WAX AND WANE SO THEY DON'T WANDER NEVER KNOWIN' WHAT IT COST THEY DON'T FEEL ME ON THEIR SHOULDERS THEY DON'T RECKON WHAT I'VE PAID I'M THE HOUR BETWEEN THE HEARTBEAT AND THE VIGIL I HAVE MADE [Outro] [everything falls away over several seconds — drums first, then bass, then guitars, until only the drone and wind remain, exactly as the album began] ...older than the grave... ...I never stopped watchin'... ...I keep them anyway...
