The River Was Sold in April

[Opening – one bar of dry minor-key banjo; low guitar resonance; vocals enter immediately] [Verse 1 – low, gravelly baritone; restrained, almost spoken] The man from the company laid his hat beside the forms. It left a dark ring on the table where the varnish had worn thin. We'd spent the winter eating seed corn. The school stove had gone cold. He said the hill could give us wages. We asked him where to sign. [Chorus – massive slow doom riff; rough sung baritone, no shouting] The river was sold in April. We stood outside in our good clothes. They took our picture on the courthouse steps. No one knew where to put their hands. The bridge was finished by November. It crossed a field of stone. [Verse 2 – banjo beneath the bass; brief harmonica answers] The first well failed at Miller's. Then the orchard by the bend. His wife kept setting out the buckets long after there was any point. The mine paid every Friday. I bought my daughter proper shoes. By June the school had seven pupils. By August, only two. [Chorus – heavier guitars; the same low, weathered voice] The river was sold in April. We stood outside in our good clothes. They took our picture on the courthouse steps. No one knew where to put their hands. The bridge was finished by November. It crossed a field of stone. [Instrumental – eight bars; lonely breathy harmonica over crushing sustained chords; dry banjo pulse underneath] [Verse 3 – drums pull back; intimate, weary delivery] I wrote the names inside the ledger. I kept my letters small and clear. When Miller asked what we had given them, I read the price aloud. The schoolhouse door is hanging open. My daughter writes from back east. She never asks about the river. She asks if I still live here. [Bridge – bass drone and sparse banjo; near-spoken confession] The paper hasn't yellowed much. I keep it in the lower drawer. The ink has outlived the orchard. I thought you'd want to know. [Final Chorus – full doom weight; restrained vocal, no added choir] The river was sold in April. My name is underneath the price. There's a bridge at the edge of town you can cross without getting anywhere. I go there when the house gets quiet. I don't stay very long. [Outro – guitars fall away; two bare vocal lines over banjo] The school closed that winter. The bridge still stands. [One low harmonica breath; short final chord]