Rider Of The Thunder Line

[Verse 1]
Dust cloggin’ up my teeth
Old bar burned down last week
Sheriff drinks his courage cheap
Lets the killers slip away
Clouds stackin’ on the range
Horizon turns that rotten gray
Someone laughs beside the graveyard gate
Says, “Boy, the debt gets paid”
[Chorus]
When the sky splits open like a busted vein
You can taste old blood in the desert rain
Hooves in the distance, cold as a hanging chain
Here comes the Rider of the thunder line
He don’t speak, he just takes his time
If your hands ain’t clean, you won’t see sunrise
[Verse 2]
They say he rode with a crooked star
Buried his badge in a mason jar
Shot by his own takers, left
With the vultures and the flies
Now every time that the sandstorms roar
Lanterns die and the church locks doors
Every outlaw feels that iron door
Swing shut behind his eyes
[Chorus]
When the sky splits open like a busted vein
You can taste old blood in the desert rain
Hooves in the distance, cold as a hanging chain
Here comes the Rider of the thunder line
He don’t blink, he just reads your crimes
If your soul runs black, you won’t see sunrise
[Bridge]
I ran hard on a stolen mare (hey)
Cards in my coat, smoke in my hair
Lightning hit and the wind turned sharp
Shadow on a ridge, star on his heart
He said, “Kneel, boy, this ain’t fate
This is every choice you made too late”
[Chorus]
Now the sky splits open like a busted vein
I taste my sins in the desert rain
Hooves getting closer, heavy as a ball and chain
Here comes the Rider of the thunder line
Takes my gun, leaves the pain behind
If I close my eyes, maybe I’ll see sunrise
[Outro]
Storm rolls off, sand turns still
Fresh-dug mound on a nameless hill
One set of tracks, heading into the night
Just me and the whisper of that dark rider’s right

country, Bleak desert country with male vocals, baritone twang. Slow, swung tempo with brushed kit, hollow-body electric, and tremolo guitar answering vocal phrases. Low, droning fiddle and distant pedal steel build stormy tension; choruses swell with stacked harmonies and tom rolls like thunder. Final chorus strips back to voice, guitar, and a lonely church bell hit on the last word.