Rust and Red Delicious

[Intro]
[Verse]
October sun is sinking low
Golden light begins to go
Grandpa’s box is heavy steel
Cold against the way I feel
Latch is stuck with years of grit
Takes a pull to open it
[Verse]
Wrench is worn and pliers bent
Wonder where the decades went
Found a photo tucked away
Edges curled and turning gray
She was smiling by the creek
Before the world turned bleak
[Pre-Chorus]
The steel is cold
The story’s old
A heavy price for land to hold
[Chorus]
Apples fall like heavy tears
Bruised by all these passing years
I chose soil, I chose the tree
But the roots are choking me
Ghost is in every bough
I’m the only keeper now
[Post-Chorus]
Only keeper now
Under the heavy bough
[Verse]
Grandpa said the land is life
Better than a city wife
So I stayed and pruned the rows
While the bitter north wind blows
Twenty years have slipped away
In the dust and red clay
[Hook]
It’s a long way down
In this quiet town
[Chorus]
Apples fall like heavy tears
Bruised by all these passing years
I chose soil, I chose the tree
But the roots are choking me
Ghost is in every bough
I’m the only keeper now
[Bridge]
I remember how she looked
By the path the river took
Suitcase sitting on the porch
While I lit the orchard torch
She said stay or come along
Now I’m singing this old song
[Break]
[Verse]
Shadows stretch across the grass
Watching all the seasons pass
I hold the hammer in my hand
Lord, I never really planned
To be an old man all alone
Sitting on a kingdom of stone
[Verse]
The wind is picking up its pace
I can almost see her face
Should I pick up that old phone?
Or just stay here all alone?
The orchard waits for winter’s sleep
Some secrets are for earth to keep
[Chorus]
Apples fall like heavy tears
Bruised by all these passing years
I chose soil, I chose the tree
But the roots are choking me
Ghost is in every bough
I’m the only keeper now
[Verse]
I put the tools back in their place
Trying to find a little grace
The toolbox lid is heavy lead
Thinking ‘bout the words unsaid
I look out at the empty row
Not sure where I’m meant to go
[Outro]