[Verse 1] Seven years beyond the water, Seven winters without a name, Letters carried under covers, Nothing ever stayed the same. Then I saw her by the window, Candle burning, curtains drawn, At the Black Lion after midnight, Like the years had never gone. [Pre-Chorus] She said, "You look older." I said, "So do you." Then she smiled the way she used to, And I knew it wasn't true. [Chorus] At the Black Lion, under candlelight, We stole an hour from another life, Her hand in mine, her hair falling down, While the rain ran silver through the town. I had crossed the sea just to see her face, Just to know there was still one place Where an exile might belong, At the Black Lion. [Verse 2] She asked me about the foreign cities, About the names I could never use, About the men who bought our acres, About the friends I had come to lose. I told her some things are better buried, Some debts are better left unpaid, But she knew by the pistol beneath my coat I had not come home afraid. [Pre-Chorus] Then the landlord stopped talking, And somebody barred the door. We heard the horses in the darkness, Then the boots across the floor. [Chorus] At the Black Lion, under candlelight, We lost our hour to the coming night. Red coats shining in the lantern glow, Steel at their sides and nowhere to go. She held my face and whispered low, "There's a stable yard behind — now go." One last kiss and I was gone From the Black Lion. [Verse 3] Out through Redford in the rainfall, Horse half-blind beneath the trees, Across the fields and broken ditches, Mud up to his knees. No road for me, no bridge, no highway, Only hedges, walls and stone, With the King's men somewhere close behind me And Delgany still miles from home. [Bridge] Her last words ticking like a clock in my head, Following every word she said: "Don't turn back, don't let them see, And if you live — come back to me." Over the wall, Through the stream, Past the chapel, Past the green, One horse falling, One man free, And dawn above Delgany. [Verse 4] My old friend opened before I knocked, Pulled me in and killed the light, Said, "You've half the county looking for you. What in God's name happened tonight?" I poured a drink but never answered, Watched the sunrise touch the floor, Because all I could see was her by the window As I disappeared through the door. [Final Chorus] At the Black Lion, under candlelight, We stole an hour from another life. Seven years gone in a single kiss, Seven years I would trade for this. They can take the land, they can take my name, Hang my likeness in a wooden frame, But there's one road I'll travel on Back to the Black Lion. [Outro] Redford rain, Delgany dawn, One night stolen, One love gone. And if they're waiting, Let them wait. I'll come back To the Black Lion.
