[Intro | twin guitar riff | organ pad | drums drive in] [Verse 1 | bass and drums pocket | low restrained vocal] Summer river smells sweet like cut grass after rain My old man still whistles walking off the pain Thirty years of shift work never slowed his cast Hands me the good rod, says the big ones bite last Friday night the flare stack lights the county red What used to hit the water burns up there instead Kids out on the sandbar going a little insane Fireworks on a schedule and the world is in flames [Chorus | full band | gang vocals on every line | slide guitar fills] River ghosts and chemical fires Every Friday night the sky gets brighter We sing along like a small-town choir To the river ghosts and chemical fires [Verse 2 | driving | melodic bass forward | second guitar picks up] My sister's kid ran the track right out of town Full ride, clean bloodwork, fastest thing around Mama says the river's outlived every single fool So we stayed and taught the water to run by our rules [Verse 3 | organ swells under | building energy] The EPA came through with their clipboards and their suits Took their water samples and their government-issue boots They bought the mayor cheap and took their little jars We wrote our own report and nailed it to the bar Preached it on the courthouse steps till the ink was dry Now the catfish school where we proved the lie [Chorus | stacked harmonies | layered guitars | organ swelling] River ghosts and chemical fires Every Friday night the sky gets brighter We sing along like a small-town choir To the river ghosts and chemical fires [Bridge | stripped to bass and floor toms | vocal low and even | building] They swore we'd all be gone by now Sold out, bought out, moving cheap We dredged the worst out of the watershed And found a reason not to leave [Solo | twin lead guitar solo | full band slams back in] [Final Chorus | biggest drums | gang vocals on every line | full harmony stack] River ghosts and chemical fires Every Friday night the sky gets brighter We sing along like a small-town choir To the river ghosts and chemical fires [Outro | band easing down | slide guitar over organ] River ghosts and chemical fires The flare stack's just another spire The current keeps on running through that town And the future's a little brighter now (River ghosts and chemical fires) (River ghosts and chemical fires) (River ghosts and chemical fires) [Outro 2 | all instruments cut | voices only | gang vocal] Yeah, river ghosts and chemical fires [Fade Out]
