Deadwood Sons - Red Dirt Gospel

**Intro** [instrumental only — slide electric guitar opening riff slow and mournful, deep resonant bass enters bar 3, harmonica wails low underneath, kick drum steady like a heartbeat, dusty southwestern rock tone, no rap no vocals, builds 8 bars then breathes back down before the verse, the sound of red clay and dry heat] **Verse 1** [country singer only, raw and plain, four lines, no rapper, acoustic guitar and bass only underneath] Mama kept the porch light on 'til the bulb burned out for good Daddy left his name behind and nothing else he should Preacher says the debt gets paid — I've been hearin' that for years Ain't paid mine yet but I'm still standin' — that much is clear **Chorus** [full band — slide guitar, harmonica melody riding over the top, hand clapping on every two and four, gospel energy but rooted in red dirt — title lands hard and repeated, voices stacked warm] Red dirt gospel — red dirt gospel That's the only truth this ground has ever known Red dirt gospel — red dirt gospel Carried in the blood and carved into the bone When the church turns cold and the good book's gathering dust Red dirt gospel — that's the one we trust **Post Chorus** [gang vocal shouts, short and punchy, 2 bars only] [gang:] Amen — ain't that right [gang:] Deadwood — born in the fight **Verse 2** [rapper first — country slang delivery, gravel in the voice, trap-influenced kick but banjo underneath, 4 lines] Ran the back roads since I's old enough to hold a wheel Traded book learnin' for the kind of hurt that's hard and real Seen a man lose everything he had behind a dice roll twice Round here the devil don't come knockin' — boy he's already inside [country singer — melody returns, harmonica low underneath, warm and aching, 4 lines separate] Still I find myself at sundown where the creek bends to the right Where my granddaddy taught me how to read the fadin' light Some things don't need a sermon and they don't need to be explained Just the smell of coming rain before it's coming down like grace **Chorus** [fuller than before — clapping louder, harmonica stronger, voices more stacked] Red dirt gospel — red dirt gospel That's the only truth this ground has ever known Red dirt gospel — red dirt gospel Carried in the blood and carved into the bone When the church turns cold and the good book's gathering dust Red dirt gospel — that's the one we trust **Post Chorus** [gang vocal, same shouts, tighter this time] [gang:] Amen — ain't that right [gang:] Deadwood — born in the fight **Verse 3** [rapper only — four lines, most controlled and deliberate of all the rap in the song, minimal beat, just kick and harmonica breath — southwestern dust in every word] You want absolution — go find yourself a steeple I found mine at ninety miles with both hands on the wheel Every scar I carry is a map of where I've been Red dirt's what I'm made of — red dirt's where it ends **Chorus** [biggest and most gospel — hand clapping at maximum, harmonica takes a short lead break between lines, choir-style harmonies stacked on the title lines, slide guitar weeps underneath, the spiritual moment of the whole song] Red dirt gospel — red dirt gospel That's the only truth this ground has ever known Red dirt gospel — red dirt gospel Carried in the blood and carved into the bone When the church turns cold and the good book's gathering dust Red dirt gospel — that's the one we trust [held final line, harmonies rising:] Red dirt gospel — always was — always will **Post Chorus** [final gang shout, biggest of the three, then drops to one voice alone] [gang:] Amen — ain't that right [gang:] Deadwood — born in the fight [single voice, plain and quiet:] Still here. [harmonica note, long and lonesome — fades to silence] **End**