The Weight of the Wool
Genre: Americana / Heartland Rock
Tempo: Slow, rhythmic, and building (approx. 72 BPM)
Emotion: Reverent, bittersweet, deeply emotional, and healing
(Verse 1)
There’s a trunk in the attic that smells like old pine
Holding a jacket that once stood in line
The brass buttons tarnished, the olive green faded
By a world that was broken, by a boy who was jaded
He came back to the valley, but left half his mind
In a country of shadows he left far behind.
(Verse 2)
Now he sits on the porch as the November leaves fall
Listening close to the wind’s heavy call
He don’t talk about ribbons, he don’t talk about names
He just stares at the hills through the cold window panes
But we see the ghost in the way that he walks
And the silence that thunders whenever he talks.
(Chorus)
Oh, the weight of the wool, the cost of the free
The things that you saw so that we wouldn't see
From the mud of the trenches to the desert heat sky
We say "thank you for serving," but we don't ask you why
Yeah, the parade marches by, and the brass trumpets blare
But we're holding your heart in a silent November prayer.
(Verse 3)
There’s a girl in the shipyard who still counts the days
Since the letters stopped coming through the salt-water haze
And a mother who looks at an empty armchair
Finding peace in the badge that her son used to wear
It’s a debt we can’t pay with a handshake or phrase
It’s a lifetime of lifting the ones who survived the blaze.
(Chorus)
Oh, the weight of the wool, the cost of the free
The things that you saw so that we wouldn't see
From the mud of the trenches to the desert heat sky
We say "thank you for serving," but we don't ask you why
Yeah, the parade marches by, and the brass trumpets blare
But we're holding your heart in a silent November prayer.
(Bridge)
And the clock keeps on ticking, the years roll on by
The young soldiers age underneath the grey sky
But a brother-in-arms never leaves you alone
They're the blood in the dirt and the marrow in bone
No, time cannot erase what the uniform bore
When you carry the peace at the end of the war.
(Guitar Solo - Long, weeping, emotional build)
(Chorus)
Oh, the weight of the wool, the cost of the free
The things that you saw so that we wouldn't see
From the mud of the trenches to the desert heat sky
We say "thank you for serving," but we don't ask you why
Yeah, the parade marches by, and the brass trumpets blare
But we're holding your heart in a silent November
prayer.
(Outro)
Yeah, we’re holding your heart...
In the chill of the air.
The wind blows the leaves.
But the uniform’s there.
Rest easy tonight.
We’re watching the square.
(Fade out on a single, sustained acoustic guitar chord)
nony_i
