Willow Tree Where We Met

[Verse 1]
Tomorrow I’m headed
To a place I’ve never been
Got a letter with no map
Just a time and a crosswind
Most of us won’t make it home
That’s what the old boys say
So I’m tracing your name in the dust
As I pack my blues away
[Chorus]
If I don’t make it back
Darlin’
Don’t you cry yourself to sleep
Lay my body down easy
Where the river runs dark and deep
If I don’t make it back
Baby
Do this one last thing for me
Bury me right by the willow tree
Where we met
Where we met
By the willow tree (oh yeah)
[Verse 2]
I can taste your goodbye
On this cold tin coffee cup
Every mile that I roll out
Is a mile that might be up
But I’ll do all that I can
Fight the fire
Brave the steel
Keep your picture in my pocket
Like a promise I can feel
[Chorus]
If I don’t make it back
Darlin’
Don’t you cry yourself to sleep
Lay my body down easy
Where the river runs dark and deep
If I don’t make it back
Baby
Do this one last thing for me
Bury me right by the willow tree
Where we met
Where we met
By the willow tree
[Bridge]
Let the branches be my blanket
Let the roots hold my bones
Let the wind hum you my name
So you’re never alone
If the road don’t lead me home
And the sky won’t let me through
I’ll be waitin’ in that shade
Saving all my songs for you (yeah)
[Chorus]
If I don’t make it back
Darlin’
Don’t you cry yourself to sleep
Lay my body down easy
Where the river runs dark and deep
If I don’t make it back
Baby
Do this one last thing for me
Bury me right by the willow tree
Where we met
Where we met
By the willow tree
Where we met
Where we met
By the willow tree

Slow, mournful country blues ballad, 6/8 sway. Male vocals, worn and husky, center of the mix. Fingerpicked acoustic and dobro slide weaving around each other; upright bass soft and steady. Harmonica swells between lines, organ pad sneaks in on the last chorus for extra ache. Vocal builds from intimate confession to a cracked, wailing last refrain, then fades on a lonely guitar figure., blues