[Deep Southern baritone] Sky was blue... A minute ago... [Lightning crack] [EXTREME METAL ERUPTION] [Verse 1 — gutturals over tremolo guitars and frantic banjo] BLACK CLOUD... OVER THE RIDGE! ROLLIN' LIKE AN OCEAN... OVER EVERYTHING! WIND HITS HARD! TREES BEND LOW! Birds disappear... And the animals know! Rain comes sideways! Cold as stone! Trail turns river... I'm out here alone! Lightning splits... An old pine tree! [Guttural] WHOLE DAMN MOUNTAIN... COMING DOWN ON ME! [Crushing riff — frantic fiddle] [Pre-Chorus] Run! Find cover! MOVE! Another tree falls... THUNDER!!! [HARD CUT — all distortion disappears] [Chorus — beautiful Appalachian folk] Then I stop... And look... My God... Would you look at that... Lightning dancing... Across the black... Rain like silver... On the mountain's back... Whole sky turning... Right before my eyes... And here I stand... So small beneath its size... I don't matter... Not much at all... Strange... How beautiful... It feels... To be here... To see it all... [Gentle fiddle] [EXTREME METAL VIOLENTLY RETURNS] [Verse 2] CREEK'S OUT ITS BANKS! MUD AT MY FEET! Every damn thought... Fighting with my feet! Branches flying! Roots give way! Daylight swallowed... In the middle of day! Hands cut open! Clothes soaked through! One wrong step... And I'm finished too! No command! No control! Just flesh and bone... Against the whole... [Guttural] LIVING... WORLD!!! [Black-metal riff intertwined with clawhammer banjo] [Pre-Chorus] Thunder rolls... Mountain shakes... Another flash... [Deep baritone] And again... I have to look... [HARD CUT] [Chorus — warm acoustic guitar, banjo and soaring fiddle] There I am... Watching heaven... Touch the ground... Seeing ancient mountains... Disappear behind the clouds... Every flash reveals... A world I've never seen... Terrible... And beautiful... Wild... And free... I don't matter... Not much at all... And for once... I don't need to... What a privilege... Just to stand here... And see... What this world... Can do... [Fiddle carries melody alone] [EXTREME METAL ERUPTION] [Bridge — guttural spoken ritual] I CANNOT STOP THE WIND! I CANNOT HOLD THE RAIN! I CANNOT COMMAND THE RIVER! I CANNOT QUIET THE SKY! I AM NOT ITS MASTER! I NEVER WAS! I AM ONE... SMALL... LIVING... THING!!! [Massive riff] TRYING... TO STAY... ALIVE!!! [Thunder] [Everything abruptly stops] [Final Chorus — most beautiful passage] And still... I'm here... Breathing... Watching lightning... Crown the hills... Listening to the thunder... Rolling through them still... For one little moment... Underneath this endless sky... I know exactly... What I am... Small... Afraid... Alive... And somehow... Of all the places... In all of time... I got to be here... For this... [Long mournful fiddle] [Outro — storm beginning to recede, solitary banjo] [Deep Southern baritone] Storm keeps moving... Like I was never here... [Pause] That's alright... [Whispered] I was... [Thunder far in the distance] [Whispered] I saw it... [Forest dripping with rain] [End] [Fiddle carries melody alone] [EXTREME METAL ERUPTION] [Bridge — guttural spoken ritual] I CANNOT STOP THE WIND! I CANNOT HOLD THE RAIN! I CANNOT COMMAND THE RIVER! I CANNOT QUIET THE SKY! I AM NOT ITS MASTER! I NEVER WAS! I AM ONE... SMALL... LIVING... THING!!! [Massive riff] TRYING... TO STAY... ALIVE!!! [Thunder] [Everything abruptly stops] [Final Chorus — most beautiful passage] And still... I'm here... Breathing... Watching lightning... Crown the hills... Listening to the thunder... Rolling through them still... For one little moment... Underneath this endless sky... I know exactly... What I am... Small... Afraid... Alive... And somehow... Of all the places... In all of time... I got to be here... For this... [Long mournful fiddle] [Outro — storm beginning to recede, solitary banjo] [Deep Southern baritone] Storm keeps moving... Like I was never here... [Pause] That's alright... [Whispered] I was... [Thunder far in the distance] [Whispered] I saw it... [Forest dripping with rain] [End]
