[Verse 1] With Mother gone the dark hurt more In empty red-rock land We split green pine and hauled tin pails Till every lip was cracked [Refrain] He kept his tears held back [Verse 2] When beans and ash-cakes both were gone He sang so soft and low The words clung quiet in his throat We barely heard them go [Refrain] He kept his tears held back [Verse 3] We learned to read the way he moved And what he would not say He held his sorrow back from us So sleep could find its way [Refrain] He kept his tears held back [Coda] By dawn the fire was ashy black The work once more begun [Refrain] He kept his tears held back
