Cedar Creek Reckoning

[Verse 1 | Low Energy | Worn Chest Voice | Acoustic Fingerpicked Pickup] The wheatfield dust rolled over the plain, Elias Ward prayed hard for rain. But hunger put iron in his hand, And night made law for his broken band. [Verse 2 | Low Energy | Gravel-Tired Narration | Harmonica Answer Phrases] Ruth kept the lamp down when law came around, Fed the boys in the loft when the hounds hit town. She smiled at the marshal and kissed the Book, Said, “Ain’t no thief in this house to look.” [Chorus | Medium Lift | Strained Full Voice | Fiddle Counterline + Harmonica Cry] The Ward boys rode under powder and pain, With borrowed Colts and a borrowed name. The badges came knocking at the break of dawn, Fiddle cried low as the fight went on. No more miles, no more payroll take, At Cedar Creek they paid for each mistake. [Verse 3 | Low Build | Plainspoken Chest Voice | Bass Walk + Brush Pulse] Elias and Ruth with the Ward boys three, Hit the freight trains near Muskogee. They took from bosses and ran from the law, With dust in their teeth and a sawed-off draw. [Verse 4 | Low Energy | Weary Close Vocal | Sparse Guitar + Violin Swell] They slipped toward the old Ozark line, Hid in a cabin past the county sign. Elias and son thought the heat had eased, But men in hats moved through the trees. [Chorus | Medium Lift | Strained Full Voice | Fiddle Counterline + Harmonica Cry] The Ward boys rode under powder and pain, With borrowed Colts and a borrowed name. The badges came knocking at the break of dawn, Fiddle cried low as the fight went on. No more miles, no more payroll take, At Cedar Creek they paid for each mistake. [Verse 5 | Rising Tension | Hoarse Storyteller Push | Foot Stomp + Harmonica Wail] The badges closed in on that cold creekside, Hours of gunfire, no place left to hide. Ruth and her son fired back from rage, Till smoke laid still on that frost-bitten day. [Chorus | Peak Energy | Strained Full Voice | Fiddle Counterline + Harmonica Cry] The Ward boys rode under powder and pain, With borrowed Colts and a borrowed name. The badges came knocking at the break of dawn, Fiddle cried low as the fight went on. No more miles, no more payroll take, At Cedar Creek they paid for each mistake. [Chorus | Peak Energy | Hoarse Final Plea | Fiddle Counterline + Harmonica Cry] The Ward boys rode under powder and pain, With borrowed Colts and a borrowed name. The badges came knocking at the break of dawn, Fiddle cried low as the fight went on. No more miles, no more payroll take, At Cedar Creek they paid for each mistake. [End]