[Verse 1: Arena pop-rock male lead, big live drums, bright layered guitars] Corner of Fourth and Vine there was a tree older than the street Every kid on the block learned to climb it with scraped-up knees and bare feet Hung a tire on the low branch, hid our notes inside the knot Shade on every summer, coolest spot the neighborhood got Then the city tied a ribbon round it, orange paint and a date Said the roots were in the pipes, said the limbs were too much weight I stood there with my coffee when the chainsaws started in Watched a hundred years of summers hittin' pavement, limb by limb [Pre-Hook: Arena pop-rock male lead, drums building, arena guitars rising] So I backed my pickup to the curb Loaded every piece and didn't say a word [Hook: Arena pop-rock male lead, full band, huge arena pop-rock hook] Heartwood, you can cut it down but you can't cut it out Every ring is a summer and the summers wanna shout Heartwood, I carved it into somethin' that can sing Now the corner's got its voice back on six steel strings [Verse 2: Arena pop-rock male lead, bright layered guitars, warm bass guitar] Twelve months in the garage with the wood dryin' slow Learned to bend the sides with heat, learned to let the mistakes go Split the first top down the middle, couldn't look at it a week Cut a second top from deeper where the wood was tight and sleek Shaved it thinner, thinner, till the light came through the lines And there they were, the hearts we cut, the arrows and the signs J.T. plus R.M., Danny was here, class of ninety-one Every carvin' from the bark had grown inside it, every one [Hook: Arena pop-rock male lead, full band, huge arena pop-rock hook] Heartwood, you can cut it down but you can't cut it out Every ring is a summer and the summers wanna shout Heartwood, I carved it into somethin' that can sing Now the corner's got its voice back on six steel strings [Bridge: Arena pop-rock male lead, drums half-time, arena guitars swelling] Block party in July, I set a chair down on the stump Strung it up and tuned it low and felt the whole street jump Missus Alvarez found the heart she cut when she was ten Old man Price traced his initials and was seventeen again Every hand on the block was restin' on the body of the thing And I hit the first chord and the old tree started to ring [Final Hook: Arena pop-rock male lead, full band, twelve-string bloom, a bright twelve-string guitar opens up over the whole band] Heartwood, you can cut it down but you can't cut it out Every ring is a summer and the summers wanna shout Heartwood, I carved it into somethin' that can sing Now the corner's got its voice back on six steel strings [Outro: Arena pop-rock male lead, arena guitars ringing out] Corner of Fourth and Vine, still the coolest place we know Heartwood on the stump, and it's singin' loud and slow [End]
