[Verse 1] Well, I walked in the second-hand shop, and I said, “Lord, what’s left for me?” Back in that inner corner sat a poor old six-string, bent with memory. Dust on the top, grime on the neck, one string gone, two more hanging thin, I laid my hand on that broken thing, and the whole room let me in. I struck one chord, and it cracked the air like a match in a funeral jar, That old worn box with the chipped-out soul sang softer than a scar. I paid that man, I took her home, with grief riding shotgun low, And I knew right then from the first dead chord, she was mine to love and hold. [Verse 2] I cleaned each fret with an aching hand, got the dirt out of every grain, Poured a little oil on the scarred-up face, let the dull old wood feel rain. Then varnish came in a golden coat, like dusk on a porch board rail, I tightened the gears, set the bridge just right, heard the whole thing wake and wail. New strings went on like fine white threads, fresh as a prayer at dawn, I tuned her up till the notes stood straight and the broken past was gone. She rang out crisp, she rang out clean, like a bell made out of pine, And I said, “Girl, you’ve still got fire in you, and now you’re finally mine.” [Bridge] I named her Marianne, my beloved, my lost, my light, For the hand that used to hold me through the lonely years of night. I carved her case by lamplight slow, with a nameplate set in bone, Handmade edges, etched and dressed, so she’d never ride alone. And when I shut that latching lid, I could feel her answer back, Like love don’t leave, it changes shape, then walks a different track. [Verse 3] So I sat out on the front porch steps where the screen door sighed at the wind, With Marianne across my knee and the sundown pouring in. My old fingers found the strings again, stiff at first, then soft and wise, And the yard got small beneath that song as the dark came down from the skies. We sang together into the night, me and that sweet old frame, Her voice was wood, my voice was dust, but we knew each other the same. If grief had a home, it lived right there where the fading light grew thin, And Marianne, she held the tune, and she brought my heart back in.
