Ghost Town Ghosts

[Verse 1] [Vocal: Low female contralto, smoke-rough and menacing. Begin nearly spoken through clenched teeth. Raw Appalachian punk delivery—unpolished, confrontational, and dangerous.] [Deep snarled growl] Ghost Town in the Sky— It wasn’t no lullaby. [Vocal rises into a harsh, gravelly belt] It was screamin’ and killin’ And a hard way to make a life. [Pull back into a dark, weathered mountain rasp] Those blue mountains weren’t always kind— Beautiful views, but a cold noose at night. [Building intensity; drums and guitar push forward] Gotta keep those fires burnin’ bright. Generations came here to escape their plight, Just to last one more night. [Verse 2] I grew up on the side of a rock, Red clay, mud, and shale stacked straight up. Pastures full of cows below— We could hear those gunfights, Hear those rounds across the road. People screamed and music played, The lifts climbed that mountain every day. Lookin’ for ghosts just to eke out pay— Ain’t nothin’ truer than a real mountain way. [Refrain] Findin’ pay in that hard red clay— That’s the way I learned and grew. Hit taught me ever-thang I knew. Hard clay, but thangs stay true, And you— You can depend own you! [Verse 3] If you looked straight up, You might catch a glance Of a wild child’s memory Hangin’ off an air-chair ride, Goin’ straight up the side of a mountain. Her mama hangin’ on with one arm, Losin’ her shoe, Huggin’ a baby with the other— Ain’t no tellin’ what that wild child Was gonna do. [Chorus] It was one wild ride Between me and you— Fifty years of ghosts In the Ghost Town crew. Lookin’ for ghosts just to eke out pay— Ain’t nothin’ truer than a real mountain way. [Refrain] Findin’ pay in that hard red clay— That’s the way I learned and grew. Hit taught me ever-thang I knew. Hard clay, but thangs stay true, And you— You can depend own you! [Verse 4] I even married a man Who played days and nights on that land, Playin’ in the Ghost Town country band. My own wild youngun Hung off those lifts Like a Viking of old. I’m tellin’ you, It’s written in our soul. The dragons of the air— It must’ve been foretold. Fiery one Of the red-haired clan, Wild and bold. Their daddy worked there ever day, Singin’ songs to make his pay. Cowboys a-shootin’ on that stage, Masked robbers a-ridin’ horses to get away. Street battles fought at high noon, Scheduled outside the old saloon. Women wept and women swooned, The band kept on a-playin’ while the gunfire boomed. [Final Verse] That town is dead and silent now. The rides and stories all shut down. But every time the mountain calls, I still hear the music sounds. I still hear the merry-go-rounds. And somewhere up there, When that cold wind moves, They’re still playin’ on— The fiery Ghost Town crew. [Final Refrain] Lookin’ for ghosts just to eke out pay— Ain’t nothin’ truer than a real mountain way. Findin’ pay in that hard red clay— That’s the way I learned and grew. Hit taught me ever-thang I knew. Hard clay, but thangs stay true, And you— You can depend own you! [Final line: snarled, triumphant, then held with a ragged vocal break] Yeah, baby— You can still depend own you!