[Verse 1] The survey flag leaned sideways in the midnight frost A coffee ring marked where the old coordinates crossed You set the map beside the wrench and bolt While Poe watched the spruce line from the roof of the Silverado The ground gave back a hum beneath our boots Like something under Alaska had remembered you [Pre-Chorus] You said, “Stay close; the weather’s turning fast” I wrote the date down so the moment would last [Chorus] Under the northern ground, something keeps its place A buried line of fire beneath the ice and clay You hold the door while the long years start to move And I keep every mark that leads us back to you [Verse 2] They called it fractured stone, a harmless fault below But the retired gauges kept a pattern none could know A narrow pulse ran east beneath the frozen plain Then bent toward the cabin like it knew our names You laid your palm against the windowpane I saw the kettle tremble though the room was still [Pre-Chorus] No grand sign came, no answer from above Just your sleeve against my arm, enough [Chorus] Under the northern ground, something keeps its place A buried line of fire beneath the ice and clay You hold the door while the long years start to move And I keep every mark that leads us back to you [Bridge] When the plow blade strikes the buried stone When the county road is quiet and the dogs are home We’ll leave a lamp beside the workbench light And let the raven choose the edge of night No prophecy can make this life less real You split the wood; I write down what we feel [Final Chorus] Under the northern ground, something keeps its place A buried line of fire beneath the ice and clay You hold the door while the long years start to move And I keep every mark that leads us back to you I keep every mark that leads us back to you [Outro] The map folds small; the winter settles in Your hand finds mine, and the record begins
