[Verse 1]
Old man on the hillside
coat smells like pine and rain
Hands rough as river rocks
eyes bright as a flaring flame
He hums to the starlings
counts rings on a fallen tree
Keeps a match in his pocket
like a secret memory
[Chorus]
He says, “Fire’s like a story
once it’s told, it travels far”
From a cabin stove
to a crown of sparks
You can warm your hands
or scorch the dark
Old man, old match
try not to break my heart
[Verse 2]
He worked these woods a lifetime
marked trails with a silver nail
Watched smoke on the horizon
read the wind like a letter in the mail
Now he walks with a lantern
checks dry grass and leaning wire
Muttering through his whiskers
“Lord, let me outrun that fire”
[Chorus]
He says, “Fire’s like a story
once it’s told, it travels far”
From a cabin stove
to a crown of sparks
You can warm your hands
or scorch the dark
Old man, old match
try not to break my heart
[Bridge]
[Horn break over stop-time swing]
He taps his cane
on the old porch floor (hey!)
Says, “Son, I’ve seen
this tale before”
One loose spark
on a summer night
And the tallest oak
turns to red daylight
[Chorus]
He says, “Fire’s like a story
once it’s told, it travels far”
From a cabin stove
to a crown of sparks
You can warm your hands
or scorch the dark
Old man, old match
guard every little spark
[Outro]
So he walks that ridge at sundown
soft whistle in the cooling air
One old man, one quiet valley
and a careful, steady prayer