[Intro — lone Appalachian fiddle, slow bowed drone, wooden room ambience, no vocal] [Verse 1 — weary low baritone, sparse phrasing, fiddle answers each line] I was born where the black creek runs Cold fog hid the mornin’ sun Daddy worked till his back gave out Mama prayed through fear and doubt Learned real young how a man goes wrong One hard night can last too long One slammed door and a mean right hand Can turn your heart to bitter land [Short Instrumental — mournful fiddle response, slow double stops] [Chorus — aching fiddles, restrained vocal] Oh Lord, the road passed over me Like a cold wind through dead cedar trees I owned my sins, every one Still no mercy ever come Now the town goes quiet when I pass by Like they ain’t seen my face in time And the fiddles cry where the dark wind bends For a man who won’t come back again [Verse 2 — closer vocal, restrained grief] Loved one girl with a crooked smile Stayed with me for a little while But whiskey burns and tempers rise And good things leave without goodbye She left one ring by the window frame I still keep it all the same In a mason jar beside the bed With broken cards and things gone dead [Instrumental Break — long grieving fiddle solo, dragging tempo, distant harmony fiddle enters, no vocal] [Verse 3 — lower register, nearly spoken in places] Now the mill’s boarded up with rain Church bell cracked and never rang Railroad tracks all covered in weeds Nothin’ left but memories Folks moved south or drank too hard Some lie buried in the churchyard And me, I stayed where the hills grow black Too far gone to wander back [Final Chorus — fuller fiddle harmonies, raw emotional lift] Oh Lord, the road passed over me Years rolled by like a floodin’ creek No redemption come my way Just colder nights and longer days So if you hear my name someday Don’t dress my life up good or saved Just say I tried when the light grew dim But the dark got there before grace did [Outro — extended fiddle lament, unresolved final note, silence]
