Folsom Road

[Verse 1] Folsom Road ran mean and long, Past burnt-out farms and butchered songs. A family rode it, five abreast, With rifles laid across each chest. Pa Folsom smiled through yellow teeth, Ma kept knives tucked underneath. Three sons laughed at every town, Then left its dead men facing down. [Chorus 1] Folsom Road don’t curve for grace, It cuts through every ruined place. Where that family laid their heads, Morning counted up the dead. [Refrain 1] Bloodline is not loyalty. Sometimes it is just a gang with a cradle. [Verse 2] They robbed a stage near Bitter Bend, Killed the driver, killed his friend. Took a bride from Mercer’s Creek, Found her days later, unable to speak. The Eraser found their cooking fire, Still warm with bone and wagon wire. He set no camp, he made no sound, Just followed ash across the ground. [Chorus 2] Five shadows moving through the heat, Five sets of prints in dust and wheat. But every mile and every crime, Brought iron closer, one at a time. [Verse 3] He took the eldest near a well, Second where the cottonwood fell. Ma went down with blade in hand, Pa ran bleeding through the sand. The youngest froze and dropped his gun, Too scared to die, too stained to run. The Eraser looked through smoke and pain, Then left him bound for county chains. [Chorus 3] Folsom Road kept all its scars, Bullet holes and broken stars. Not every debt was paid in lead, But every living name was read. [Refrain 2] If there is anything left in him, let the cage find it. [Outro] The road stayed empty for a year, No laughter in the grain. But wagon wheels still slow at dusk, Where Folsom left its stain.