[Verse 1] [M] Your boots by the door Still caked with red clay [F] Your name on the window Like rain on a pane [M] We laughed in the yard With your sister's old kite [F] Now the wind goes by Like it knows you're gone [Pre-Chorus] [M] They called you up north Then the trains went cold [F] We watched the sky And it swallowed you whole [M] No letter came back Just a folded flag [F] And a chair at the table That nobody drags [Chorus] [M] Empty chair river [F] Carry him home [M] Empty chair river [F] Where did you roam? [M] We keep your fire [F] In the bones of this town [M] Empty chair river [F] Don't let him drown [Verse 2] [M] Your mother still plants Two rows of beans [F] Your little dog waits At the churchyard steps [M] The brass on the shelf Has gone dull with age [F] But your voice comes back When the storm rolls in [Pre-Chorus] [M] They said it was duty They said it was fate [F] But we saw the price In your brother's face [M] A blackened road And a broken drum [F] One more empty bottle And the fields gone numb [Chorus] [M] Empty chair river [F] Carry him home [M] Empty chair river [F] Where did you roam? [M] We keep your fire [F] In the bones of this town [M] Empty chair river [F] Don't let him drown [Bridge] [F] If I could meet you At the edge of the scar [M] I'd hand you the years We buried in jars [F] The lies, the smoke The maps, the stone [M] Take all our grief And bring him home [Chorus] [M] Empty chair river [F] Carry him home [M] Empty chair river [F] Where did you roam? [M] We keep your fire [F] In the bones of this town [M] Empty chair river [F] Don't let him drown [Outro] [F] Your boots by the door [M] Still caked with red clay [F] Your name on the window [M] Won't wash away
