Boots crush the salt crust
Wind scrapes my ear
Like someone biting a prayer
Last water goes to the horse
I chew sand, tasting old wine
They said west leads to gold
I see crosses and overturned tables
A rusted revolver at my back
Like a late witness
Drifting with me
At the desert’s edge I see figures
Sun at their backs, thunder in their steps
They ask if I still believe in redemption
I grind my teeth—let fate decide (hey)
If I must kneel, level your gun first
If love’s a trap, I’ll smile and fall
Under this desolate sky
I’ll rule my own clear sky
City priest, too clean
Blood on his shoes—calls it sin’s echo
His verses press on my wound
All I hear is my heart beating iron doors
She lit my smoke by the barn
Said some aren’t meant to play it safe
Then a bullet crossed our words
A plank split, the world rewrote
At the desert’s edge I see figures
Sun at their backs, thunder in their steps
They ask if I still believe in redemption
I grind my teeth—let fate decide
If I must kneel, level your gun first
If love’s a trap, I’ll smile and fall
Under this desolate sky
I’ll rule my own clear sky
Who lit your lamp in the dark
Who took the bullet’s hum
You say this land breeds only hate
Yet your palm’s lines all face one river
I reach the cliff, hear my name misspoken
I pick up your vow from the ruined church
If there’s a god, let him judge
If not, we strike the match
At the desert’s edge we become figures
Sun at our backs, thunder in our steps
If no one speaks of redemption anymore
Let scars write the new gospel (oh)
If we must kneel, level your guns first
If love’s a trap, we jump together
Under this desolate sky
We seal our own clear sky
Boots raise yellow dust
Eyes hold the dawn
If there’s a figure at the edge
That’s probably just us (hey)