Love On The Dirt Road

[Verse 1]
Dust on my shoes
Moon hangin’ crooked and low
Whiskey in my breath
Nowhere left for me to go
Out on that dirt road
Where the pine roots twist and turn
I saw a stranger smilin’
Eyes like a slow coal burn
[Chorus]
I said
“Devil
Why this anger?
Why you tear this world apart?”
He said
“Son
It ain’t my fire
It’s the hollow in their hearts
Love is the way
Yeah
But it’s hidin’ in the dark”
On that long dirt road I heard it
Like a knife inside my heart (oh yeah)
[Verse 2]
He leaned on a fence post
Boot heel diggin’ in the clay
Smoke curl ’round his fingers
As he laughed my fear away
He said
“I don’t start their wars
I just walk behind the flame
They forget to hold each other
Then they come to curse my name”
[Chorus]
I said
“Devil
Why this anger?
Why you tear this world apart?”
He said
“Son
It ain’t my fire
It’s the hollow in their hearts
Love is the way
Yeah
But it’s hidin’ in the dark
You want to fight my shadow?
Learn to carry just one heart” (hey!)
[Bridge]
We stood there in the silence
Crickets cryin’ in the weeds
He said
“Boy
Your hands are empty
But your soul knows what it needs
Go and find that quiet kindness
Give it
Give it
Don’t you hoard”
Then he vanished in the dust cloud
Left his echo in my chords
[Chorus]
I said
“Devil talked of anger
Devil talked of broken hearts”
He said
“Love is still the answer
But it’s buried in the dark
So walk that road in mercy
Hold ‘em closer when they’re scarred”
On that old dirt path I stumbled
But I’m walkin’ loveward now
Not hard

Smoky 1950s Chicago-blues band feel, male vocals. Slow 12/8 swing with tremolo guitar and moaning slide, upright bass walking soft, brushed snare and distant room reverb. Verses stay hushed and intimate like a late-night juke joint; chorus swells with organ pads and call-and-response backing harmonies. Final pass digs in harder with gritty vocal growls and a wailing guitar fill answering each line., delta blues, soul, chicago blues