Young Ralph (track 4 in my post-apocalyptic story)

[Verse 1, Thornton, male voice] Thirty-five years since the trigger screamed Dust on the porch where the old man dreamed Of whiskey rivers and corn that won't grow Just rusted tractors and radio snow Got a boy with his mama's eyes Now she's ten years gone beneath poisoned skies [Verse 2, Ralph, male voice] Freaking twenty years old with a hollow chest Joined the freaking Bright Path jagoffs 'cause they promised the best Of cheap rotgut and cheaper thrills Found Jean laughin' by the compound hills We danced 'neath their painted sun 'Til the hymns turned sharp, and the running begun [Chorus, Jean, female voice] We fled through the ash with the zealots' cries Burned robes flyin' like fireflies Back to the farm where the fences lean Where the soil's thin but the silence is clean Oh, the silence is clean [Verse 3, Thornton, male voice] Fifty-two winters, a bottle deep Staggered out where the hot winds weep Radiation kissed my skin like a bride Left me twisted... but alive inside Now I watch the young ones wed While this cursed blood keeps my engine fed [Bridge, Ralph, male voice,] Jean plants marigolds by the well Says they'll bloom where the fallout fell Dad stares west where the storm-light glows With his scarred hands and his long, long roads [Guitar Solo] [Outro] The corn whispers low The still breathes slow We ain't the ghosts we thought we'd be Just broken things Growin' wild and free In the long Long After...