Ash in the Valley

[Verse 1]
Smoke in my sleep again
Drums on a distant hill
Names I can’t say out loud
Blood I remember still
Uniform folded tight
Buried it deep in a trunk
Left it with mother’s Bible
Walked till the daylight sunk
[Chorus]
So I followed the river west
Past every burned-out town
Laid my ghosts in the dust and grass
Let the saddle take me down
Where the air runs thin and clear
And the pine roots hold the ground
I lost my war in the lowland mud
But I found my peace in the mountain sound
[Verse 2]
Night on the prairie road
Stars like a thousand eyes
Each one a face I knew
Flickering out of the sky
Ridge line at break of day
Purple and gold and gray
First time in years I breathed
Didn’t taste smoke that way
[Chorus]
So I followed the river west
Past every burned-out town
Laid my ghosts in the dust and grass
Let the saddle take me down
Where the air runs thin and clear
And the pine roots hold the ground
I lost my war in the lowland mud
But I found my peace in the mountain sound
[Bridge]
I still hear the captain call
Sometimes when thunder rolls
But it fades in the canyon wind
Like a sermon getting old (mmm)
Hands in the living earth
Planting a simple row
Nothing to take but time
Nothing to give but grow
[Chorus]
Still I follow the river west
Even when I stand still now
Every breath is a wordless hymn
Every stone a silent vow
Here the air runs thin and clear
Here my heart beats slow and sound
I lost my war in the lowland mud
But I found my peace in the mountain ground

Dusty folk ballad with male vocals, close mic and intimate. Fingerpicked acoustic guitar, soft upright bass, and brushed snare set a slow, steady sway. Verses stay bare and storytelling-driven; chorus widens with warm harmonies and a distant pedal steel crying in the background. Final chorus pulls the band down to almost a whisper, ending on a lone guitar and breathy held note.