THE SHADOW ROAD Verse 1 I found his name in a yellowed page, Written down in another age, A gentleman once, with land and gold, Then everything taken, bought and sold. His father’s house went to another name, His brothers scattered, his mother shamed, So he took the pistol, took the blade, And rode where the mountain shadows laid. Pre-Chorus By daylight a traveller, after dark a ghost, Carrying secrets from coast to coast. Chorus Down the shadow road he’d ride, With the moon running cold at his side, Black coat flying, silver drawn, Gone before the break of dawn. For a stolen name, for a stolen home, Through the mountain mist alone. And every mile the old tale grows Along the shadow road. Verse 2 They called him outlaw, thief and spy, But no two stories tell you why. Some said France, some said the Crown, Some said he meant to burn them down. He knew the passes, knew the streams, Carried letters sewn in seams, And every man who’d signed away His family’s land would fear the day. Pre-Chorus He followed the names, he followed the gold, And somewhere in winter the story turns cold. Chorus Down the shadow road he’d ride, With the moon running cold at his side, Black coat flying, silver drawn, Gone before the break of dawn. For a stolen name, for a stolen home, Through the mountain mist alone. And every mile the old tale grows Along the shadow road. Verse 3 One December night beneath the trees, He saw a woman where no one should be. No horse, no lantern, no tracks in snow, Just dark green eyes in the moonlight glow. She knew his name before he spoke, Knew every oath that he ever broke, Said, “I can give you what revenge cannot, But every gift must have its cost.” Bridge She drew a circle in the frozen ground, No bird sang and there came no sound. The wind fell dead, the clouds rolled back, Something moved where the stars went black. She whispered once — he never knew the word — But under the earth something stirred. Then far away on the mountain crown, A single house lit up the dark. Verse 4 The story says she sent it there, A thing called up from smoke and air, To sit beside the rich man’s fire, To feed on greed and old desire. Cards were dealt and glasses filled, The doors were shut, the night went still, And by the dawn the house was flame — But no one ever wrote her name. Breakdown I read the line again and froze: The hill. The house. The mountain road. The same place where she spoke to me. The same black trees. The same old story. Final Chorus Down the shadow road I’ll ride, With the city burning far behind, Following footsteps two centuries gone, Trying to find where it all began. Was he damned, or was he saved? Did she free him, did she make him pay? And was the woman from that night The same one standing in the firelight? Down the shadow road I know There’s somewhere else I have to go. For every answer that I find Leaves another ghost behind. Outro Mountain lights beyond the rain, An old road calling me again. A woman waiting where the cold winds blow, Somewhere down The shadow road. Was she his angel? Was she his curse? Was she there before him? Or was he first?
