What the Canyon Keeps

[Verse 1] He showed up with a grin and a leather-bound map Said the Spanish left gold in a dry river gap I was broke and bored and too dumb to doubt So I saddled my bay and we headed south [Verse 2] The canyon was deep and the rocks ran red With old bones buried where brave men bled We dug three days through dust and lies Chasin’ echoes and fever in the desert sky [Chorus] But the West don’t give what the West don’t owe And treasure don’t shine where the dead won’t go He swore it was real, but the silence was steep And some things ain’t meant for the hands of the weak [Verse 3] He turned on me ‘neath a silver moon Pistol raised, said, “Gold makes room.” But his boots slipped slick on a snake-bit ledge And the canyon took him with nothin’ said [Bridge] I hauled him out and I laid him still By a rusted spade near a wind-worn hill No gold, no glory, just a name gone cold And a busted map in a hand gone old [Final Chorus] Yeah, the West don’t give what the West don’t owe It’ll promise you fortune and bury you slow Some ride for riches, some ride for peace— But they all meet truth in what the canyon keeps [Outro] [Wind through stone, crow calling far off, then quiet... like the dirt never spoke at all]