I Don't Owe the Devil

Intro
(Sparse upright bass notes, soft brushed snare, distant low cello)
​[Verse 1]
The ink on the warrant turned brown in the drawer
Fifty-four winters since I kept the score
The brass on the buckle is worn smooth as glass
From leaning on counters while arguments pass
I never once hollered to prove I was right
Just stood in the doorway and waited out night
​[Verse 2]
There’s a notch on the doorframe where timber went dry
And a pocket-watch ticking an hour behind
The townsfolk remember the men that I caught
They don’t know the mercy that never got bought
How a look in the eyes in the middle of June
Can settle a matter before afternoon
​[Chorus]
I don’t owe the devil, I don’t owe the crown
Just a debt to the miles that I never wrote down
No marble to carry the weight of my name
No story to polish, no ledger to claim
Just dust on the floorboards and peace in the room
While the evening comes settling slow through the gloom
​[Verse 3]
They hung up a portrait down there at the hall
With a stiff-collared coat that don’t fit me at all
The painter put steel where there only was bone
And carved out a statue of cold, heavy stone
He missed the bent knuckles, he missed the slow tread
Of a man who just wanted to keep folks well-fed
​[Bridge]
(Cello swells, acoustic guitar drops out, intimate spoken-sung baritone)
You carry the iron so long that it bends
The shape of your shoulder, the weight of your friends
And the hardest decision you’ll ever make stick
Is leaving the hammer uncocked on the click
​[Guitar & Cello Instrumental Break]
(Melancholic acoustic melody over deep upright bass, 8 bars)
​[Chorus]
I don’t owe the devil, I don’t owe the crown
Just a debt to the miles that I never wrote down
No marble to carry the weight of my name
No story to polish, no ledger to claim
Just dust on the floorboards and peace in the room
While the evening comes settling slow through the gloom
​[Outro]
(Instrumentation strips back to single upright bass and voice)
The ink’s faded out, and the iron is cold
Nothing left on the page when the winter takes hold
(Final low cello note fades out)