The Stitch and the Strain

[Intro]
[Verse]
Sun's dipping low behind the ridge
Dust dancing on the window ledge
The tack room smells like oil and hide
I keep the heavy world outside
I’m sorting through the wooden bin
Where all the ghosts are settled in
[Pre-Chorus]
The screen door creaks a lonesome tune
Beneath a pale and rising moon
The dry wheat wind begins to blow
Reminding me it's time to go
[Chorus]
These leather palms are worn and thin
Where the work and the man begin
You can't force a horse to mind
And you can't leave the past behind
Just hold it loose and let it slide
Like the rhythm of a long day’s ride
[Post-Chorus]
Let it slide
Let it go
Everything we reap we have to sow
In the Montana glow
[Break]
[Verse]
Grandpa had a way with reins
He never grumbled ‘bout the rains
He’d say "Son, the leather takes the strain
To save your heart from all the pain"
He stitched the seams with heavy thread
While the summer heat turned everything red
[Pre-Chorus]
I feel his grip in every fold
Stories that were never told
The dry wheat wind begins to blow
Reminding me of what I know
[Chorus]
These leather palms are worn and thin
Where the work and the man begin
You can't force a horse to mind
And you can't leave the past behind
Just hold it loose and let it slide
Like the rhythm of a long day’s ride
[Bridge]
The winters here are long and cold
They turn the new things into old
The mountains watch us come and go
Steady as the creek’s soft flow
I’m learning how to breathe again
In the quiet where the years have been
[Verse]
I find a pair with a broken thumb
My fingers feel a little numb
I see his hands in every crease
A working man’s brand of peace
I’ll oil ‘em up and lay ‘em down
While the shadows stretch across the town
The sagebrush sighs against the gate
I guess the rest will have to wait
[Chorus]
These leather palms are worn and thin
Where the work and the man begin
You can't force a horse to mind
And you can't leave the past behind
Just hold it loose and let it slide
Like the rhythm of a long day’s ride
[Post-Chorus]
Let it slide
Let it go
Everything we reap we have to sow
In the Montana glow
[Outro]