Tom Barrett

(album: River Fools & Mountain Saints - 2022)

He was waiting for a better time
To tell her he'd be gone
It was blowing up a storm that night
And something about it just seemed wrong
So, he waited 'til the morning came
With lightning all around
And it broke his soul, but he let her go
And split for that tore-up town

All these roads
Coulda swore that they closed
All these towns
Woulda swore they fell down

Tom Barrett was a killing man
From the 21st platoon
Started out in a heavy tank
Tearing down the mountain dunes
And the pilot guards would laugh and say
We see you're back again
Said I tell ya if they had their way
They'd send me just to fight the wind

All these roads
Coulda swore that they closed
All these towns
Woulda swore they fell down

And this life is getting old
I never see no peace
On the day I turned 41
I was crawling up a ditch in Greece
About to end a man
When they stopped me at his heels
Never knew how they handled him
And don't guess I ever will

He sits alone with a local guide
Amongst the plow machines
Pushing piles
For miles and miles
Rubble like you've never seen
He said, I'd tell em' that I've had enough
But no matter where I went
They'd have me caught
Before the sun came up
Tamed and ready to repent

And all these roads
Coulda swore that they closed
And all these towns
I woulda swore they fell down