No One Cried When I Died

[Intro - one distant church bell, wind, a lone acoustic guitar begins low, vocal spoken dry and unhurried]Eight people came to bury me.Two of 'em were paid.[Verse 1 - vocal weathered, spoken-sung, watching his own funeral from somewhere close]The preacher kept it under tenThe digger kept his spadeThey sang one round of Amazing GraceThin as morning iceNobody took the low part'Cause nobody knew mineMy brother checked his phone twiceAnd the clouds never changed their minds[Chorus - pedal steel weeps far off, organ breathes low, vocal steady and cold]No one cried when I diedNot a tear hit the pineI kept the world at a fence lineAnd the world kept me at mineThe preacher praised a strangerThe organ played on timeNo one cried when I diedAnd I earned every dry eye[Verse 2 - vocal lower, honest, no self-pity in it]I wasn't cruel, I was just closedLike a mine when the vein runs outStill deep, still dark, still standingJust nothing left to bring upI loved a few in my own wayFrom across a gravel roadCash in unsigned envelopesThat's as close as I ever got[Chorus - pedal steel weeps far off, organ breathes low, vocal steady and cold]No one cried when I diedNot a tear hit the pineI kept the world at a fence lineAnd the world kept me at mineThe preacher praised a strangerThe organ played on timeNo one cried when I diedAnd I earned every dry eye[Bridge - everything drops to the lone guitar and wind, vocal quiet, the turn]But when the eight had gone their waysOne man stayed behindWork boots, forty-some, hat in his handsStanding where the dirt meets pineI knew him then — the Ratliff boyI pulled him from the Cane in '99Made him swear to never tellAnd he kept that vow of mineAnd he criedLord, he criedTwenty-six years of thank-youComing down on that fresh-turned ground[Final Chorus - the steel rises, the organ swells once, vocal warmer by one degree]One man cried when I diedOne was all it tookOne tear on a fence-line lifeCan balance the whole bookSo preacher, keep your sermonOrgan, keep your timeOne man cried when I diedAnd I'd live the same dry life twice[Outro - the bell tolls once more, guitar slows to nothing, spoken low]Turns out one is plenty.One was always plenty.22 - No One Cried When I Died - Outlaw

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