**Verse 1** There’s a fence out back by the cottonwood tree, Been standin’ there longer than memory. One night the latch gave way in the rain, And somethin’ slipped through I can’t name. **Chorus** Now I keep that gate hangin’ on one hinge, Rust on the chain where the trust wore thin. Ain’t no use mendin’ what can’t be the same, Some things you live through, some you just tame. **Verse 2** Mama said fences keep out the wrong, But no one checked where the posts’d gone. Now I walk that line when the night gets late, Still hear the creak of that broken gate. **Bridge 1** Folks drive by and never see, The boards gone soft beneath my feet. But I know where the shadows wait, By that field and the broken gate. **Verse 3** Years rolled on and the grass grew high, Covered the scars but not the why. I built new fences on my own land, Hammered each nail with a steady hand. **Chorus (reprise)** Still I keep that gate hangin’ on one hinge, Rust on the chain where the trust wore thin. It don’t keep nothin’ out these days, But it reminds me I’m the one who stays. **Bridge 2** Some nights I swear I hear it swing, Old hinges moan, the coyotes sing. I light a match, watch the dark back down, Ain’t no ghost gonna run this ground. **Final Chorus / Outro** Now I stand where the fence line fades, Past’s just a trail through the brush I’ve laid. I can leave that gate, I don’t need it straight, ’Cause freedom walks through a broken gate.
