[Intro]
[bagpipes drone
Slow build]
Wind in the fences
Dust in their teeth
Bootheels like hammers
Guns hanging
Asleep
[Verse 1]
Two worn shadows
Cut from the red dawn
Spurs barely singing
Each breath a long yawn of fear
They know what comes here
A torn photograph
Folded in one vest
A silver locket
Pressed to a chest
Both of them praying
To lose
Or be blessed
[Chorus]
Dust on the draw
One step
Then never again
One shot rings clear
And the world forgets their names
One falls slow
One stands
Staring at his hand
Dust on the draw
Blood on the sand
[Verse 2]
They nod
No words
Nothing left to explain
Years of bad choices
Running like trains through their veins
Old debts
Old names
Sun hits steel
Ten paces feel like a mile
A crow starts laughing
Breaks the sky for a while (hey!)
Time holds its breath
Around their crooked smiles
[Chorus]
Dust on the draw
One step
Then never again
One shot rings clear
And the world forgets their names
One hits hard
One sways
Trying to understand
Dust on the draw
Blood on the sand
[Bridge]
[bagpipes and accordion lead
Drums drop to toms]
He drops to his knees
Hat rolling away
A whisper of smoke
Curling into the day
He thinks of a sister
He never wrote back
A boy on a fence rail
Watching the tracks
While the last light
Leaves his eyes
The other man
Feels nothing rise
No relief
No righteous fire
Just an echo
Getting quieter and drier (oh)
[Chorus]
Dust on the draw
One step
Then never again
One shot rings clear
And the world forgets their names
One grave cut
One man walking
Empty hands
Dust on the draw
Blood on the sand
[Outro]
[steel guitar and bagpipes intertwine
Tempo slows]
Wind in the fences
Story thins to air
Just dust on the draw
And a ghost in the glare