Skrzypek (Texas Porch Pickin’ version)

[Intro - fingerpicked guitar, sparse, fiddle drone with resonator intro] [Verse 1] Frost along the northbound rail, first train breathing in the dark. Old man leaning on a post, draws the dust off with his bow. [Fiddle mourning instrumental] [Verse 2] Boot heels ringing on the stone, nobody slows, nobody knows. Couple coins down in the case, rest is echo off the roof. [guitar instrumental] [Chorus] Gra dla tych — the ones who left, gra dla tych still riding home. Every string holds one more year, platform remembers, so he plays. Whistle, smoke, the train pulls out, he stays on, the bow comes down. Ain't the platform standing empty — empty house is all he holds. [Fiddle instrumental/bridge] [Verse 3/Bridge] Used to be the lights, the hall, hard oak floor beneath his feet. Now the suitcases sit and listen, and the switch-track, and the cold. [Verse 4] Someone stops here, maybe Tuesday, hears what's hiding in the tone — that it ain't the fiddle crying, it's whatever's left of home. [Chorus a Capella] Gra dla tych — the ones who left, gra dla tych still riding home. [music resumes] Every string holds one more year, platform remembers, so he plays. Whistle, smoke, the train pulls out, he stays on, the bow comes down. Ain't the platform standing empty — empty house is all he holds. [Mourning fiddle] [Outro - last line spoken low] Empty house is all he holds. [End]