(Intro) (The song begins with a soft, intricate finger-picking pattern on a steel-string acoustic guitar in open D tuning. The notes are warm and resonant, accompanied by the faint, rhythmic sound of a foot tapping on a wooden floor.) (Verse 1) (Vocal Pitch: Warm, breathy baritone; intimate and steady) There’s a frost upon the window and a kettle on the stove And a shadow stretching long across the cedar in the grove I’ve got a pocket full of stories that I’m never gonna tell And a bucket full of water from a deep and quiet well (Vocal Pitch: Shifting to a gentle, melodic mid-range) And the porch swing is a-creaking like a ghost inside the wood Doing all the heavy lifting that a younger spirit should I’m tracing out the grain in the table by the door Finding all the pieces that I couldn’t find before. (Chorus) (Vocal Pitch: Soaring, melodic head voice; layered with a soft, ethereal harmony) Oh, let the river wander, let the golden light remain In the hollow of the mountain, in the rhythm of the rain We’re just travelers in the timber, we’re just whispers in the wheat Walking on a path that is bitter and is sweet (Vocal Pitch: Delicate, wordless humming) (Mmm-mmm, mmm-mmm...) (Verse 2) (Vocal Pitch: Low, conversational, and slightly raspy) I found a rusted compass in a box beneath the bed Pointing to the places and the words we never said The ink is getting thinner but the memory is deep Like a jagged little secret that the valley likes to keep (Vocal Pitch: Rising with a subtle, emotional grit) And I’m walking through the orchard where the apple blossoms fall Listening to the silence as it settles on it all It’s a fragile kind of magic, it’s a rugged kind of grace To be standing in the center of a wide and open space. (Chorus) (Vocal Pitch: Soaring, melodic head voice; layered with harmonies) Oh, let the river wander, let the golden light remain In the hollow of the mountain, in the rhythm of the rain We’re just travelers in the timber, we’re just whispers in the wheat Walking on a path that is bitter and is sweet. (Bridge) (The music stays minimal, adding only a soft, bowed cello and a steady, slow thump of a palm against the guitar body.) (Vocal Pitch: Low, rhythmic whisper; building slightly in volume) First comes the winter. Then comes the green. Then comes the beauty. Of the things that are unseen. (Vocal Pitch: A single, clean, melodic belt) LET THE LIGHT IN! (Acoustic Solo) (A brief, melodic acoustic solo focusing on slow slides, hammer-ons, and delicate harmonics, staying deep within the peaceful atmosphere of the finger-picking.) (Chorus) (Vocal Pitch: Soaring, melodic head voice; layered with harmonies) Oh, let the river wander, let the golden light remain In the hollow of the mountain, in the rhythm of the rain We’re just travelers in the timber, we’re just whispers in the wheat Walking on a path that is bitter and is sweet. (Outro) (Vocal Pitch: Fading out with soft humming and the sound of the cello) The fire’s getting low... The stars are getting bright... Nowhere left to go... In the middle of the night. (The guitar returns to the opening finger-picking melody, slowing down until it ends on a final, soft harmonic that rings out into the sound of a distant wind chime.)
