Root Beer and Red Clay

[Intro]
[Verse]
Sun’s dropping low on the ridge
Dust on the old wooden bridge
Flipping through black and white
Chasing that evening light
Fifty-eight years in these boots
Deep in these red clay roots
I feel the ghost of the man
Who taught me all that I can
[Chorus]
Cold cans of root beer and sweat
Lessons I ain't forgotten yet
He didn't say much at all
Just stood there steady and tall
Calloused hands and a quiet heart
Teaching me how to play my part
In the golden glow
Watching the seasons go
[Post-Chorus]
Yeah, he played his part
With a quiet heart
[Verse]
Hay dust stuck to our skin
Waiting for breeze to begin
He’d crack a tab with a grin
Letting the cooling air in
Work till the shadows grow long
That’s how you learn to be strong
No need for a sermon or speech
Just the truths within reach
[Chorus]
Cold cans of root beer and sweat
Lessons I ain't forgotten yet
He didn't say much at all
Just stood there steady and tall
Calloused hands and a quiet heart
Teaching me how to play my part
In the golden glow
Watching the seasons go
[Bridge]
Now my own hands are worn
Tattered and slightly torn
I see him in the way I stand
Looking out across this land
A legacy written in grime
Passed down one day at a time
It’s a heavy, beautiful weight
Standing here at the gate
[Solo]
[Verse]
The scrapbook is coming apart
Like the map of a tired heart
Faded ink and a rusted staple
Sitting here under the maple
He’s gone but he’s never far
Like the light of a distant star
I take a sip of the sweet
And feel the day’s fading heat
[Chorus]
Cold cans of root beer and sweat
Lessons I ain't forgotten yet
He didn't say much at all
Just stood there steady and tall
Calloused hands and a quiet heart
Teaching me how to play my part
In the golden glow
Watching the seasons go
[Hook]
Just a quiet heart
Doing his honest part
Under the Southern sky
As the years whistle by
[Breakdown]
[Outro]