Intro (8 bars – ad lib)
Mmmm… mmmm…
Yeah…
Mmmm… mmmm…
Verse 1 (30–35 sec)
Born in the fifties
Old farmland shack
Cold cut through the walls, Lord
No window in the back
Snow on them fields like silence
White as a frozen prayer, mum hummin’ just to keep warm
Dad fightin’ frozen air
Chorus (20 sec)
Mmmm… mmmm…
That cold tried to take my name
Yeah, it did
But the blues kept me breathin’
When nothin’ felt the same
I came up hard, I came up slow
From frozen ground below
I was born in the winter
But I grew me a soul
Turnaround / Guitar fill (8 bars – 15 sec)
Verse 2 (30 sec)
Shoes worn thin, coat full of holes
Walkin’ before the dawn
Hands learned work before they learned hope
Life already movin’ on
Didn’t have much, didn’t cry
Pain was just the way
But there was fire deep in my chest
Wouldn’t freeze away
Chorus (20 sec)
Mmmm… mmmm…
That wind talked mean at night
Said I’d never stand tall
But the blues taught me how to bend
So I wouldn’t fall
Yeah, that shack gave me my backbone
That snow showed me control
I was born in the winter
But I grew me a soul
Bridge (spoken / sung – 25 sec)
They say where you start don’t matter
But it leaves a mark
You don’t forget them hungry nights
Prayin’ in the dark
If you hear somethin’ rough in my voice
Somethin’ deep and old
That’s that cold still talkin’
Still tryin’ to hold
Breakdown Chorus (stripped – 20 sec)
Mmmm… mmmm…
Still here, still standin’
Yeah, after all these years
Turned that ice into music
Turned that pain into tears
Final Chorus (full band – 25 sec)
Mmmm… mmmm…
I been cold, I been down
But I’m still walkin’ tall
From a shack with no back window
I learned to outlast it all
Yeah, the blues ain’t just my music
It’s the truth I know
I was born in the winter
But I grew me a soul
Outro (fade – 20 sec)
Mmmm… mmmm…
Yeah…
Mmmm… mmmm…
Still singin’…
OldTimber
