[Verse 1] I left home in a cracked black coat Cold rain on a roadside nail Pockets full of hard-earned dust And a name that never stayed My father said, "Boy, keep moving" When the creek ran dark in spring I learned to read the face of fate In a bent-backed raven's wing [Pre-Chorus] And I walked through the hammerdown With my hands all split and raw Still a light kept calling me From beyond the timber saw [Chorus] Ashes on the road Ashes on the road I keep walking, I keep walking Through the smoke and the cold Ashes on the road Ashes on the road If the world won't spare me I will carry my soul [Verse 2] Saw a widow by the station Counting coins in a tin cup shine Tears like stains of black coffee And a stare that cut through mine She said, "Every wound is a doorway Every debt gets paid in dust" So I dropped my fear beside her Like a stone no man can trust [Pre-Chorus] And the night came up like thunder Over fields of rust and rot Still I heard that mercy song From the bottom of the lot [Chorus] Ashes on the road Ashes on the road I keep walking, I keep walking Through the smoke and the cold Ashes on the road Ashes on the road If the world won't spare me I will carry my soul [Bridge] When the blackbirds cut the treeline When the creek runs low and mean I will follow every hard mile To the place I have not seen Let the old bones shake and answer Let the rough hands hold the tune There's a fire under the sorrow And it's gonna rise up soon [Final Chorus] Ashes on the road Ashes on the road I keep walking, I keep walking Through the smoke and the cold Ashes on the road Ashes on the road When the dusk comes for me I won't bow, I won't fold Ashes on the road Ashes on the road I was lost, but I am found On the long way home below
