[Verse 1] On the brae, the heather bent Where the old road broke in two We buried names in peat and rain And the crows kept countin’ true No banner left to claim the field No king to call it done Only boots in the mud at dusk And the smoke of work undone [Pre-Chorus] It ended where it started In the hush after the cry No hand rose up a victor Just the loch and the wide sky [Chorus] No winner here No winner here Only the braids of years No winner here No winner here But the ground remembers tears (ay, the ground remembers tears) [Verse 2] At the door, your mother hums With the bairn held close and small Her palm on the soft new brow Like she’s blessin’ one and all She’s speakin’ low of summer fields Of bannocks and a fire Teachin’ joy to take its first Tiny steps on that old wire [Pre-Chorus] A distant thought comes wanderin’ Like a ship on the grey tide She lets the child keep laughin’ And the dead stay by her side [Chorus] No winner here No winner here Only the braids of years No winner here No winner here But the ground remembers tears (ay, the ground remembers tears) [Bridge] If the past comes callin’ softly Let it find a gentler name Let the little one be shinin’ Not a mirror for the flame We have carried all the reckonin’ Long enough through sleet and stone Now the child can learn the dawn Without inheritin’ the bones [Chorus] No winner here No winner here Only the braids of years No winner here No winner here But the ground remembers tears (ay, the ground remembers tears) [Outro] So sing it low Then lift it high Till the heather learns to mend A war was never won, my love And it has already ended
