Wise River

I am the shaker you're my hammer in the frost
 Don't you sing of rivers now the ones I'll never cross
 And if I sing along will that river make me wise
 Craft another melody we'll holler at sunrise
 There's a buckskin highway headed north
 Your choice is east or west
 At that lonely river town where the barfly knows you best
 I'll never know why we came to Wise River
 Where the snow can fall like cannonballs
 And that lonesome wind blows bitter
 Now if you're weary, they don't mind you passing through
 Those seats are for the cowboys though
 They ain't for me or you
 It was the wrath of a man near one hundred years ago
 Can't you hear the ghosts of miners wail
 In the hell they dug below
 Now one thing marks the reason and another's on my mind
 That one thing lasts forever and that's the darkness in their eyes
 I'll never know why we came to Wise River
 Where the snow can fall like cannonballs
 And that lonesome wind blows bitter
 Something colder is growing me older than she
 She could share this, an heiress of copper and wheat
 And if they forgive their folly in the fields
 We may find her there asleep
 Oh well they lost it all, one shot at fortune's fame
 Only the rivers are left for digging boys
 And they'll fly to jump your claim
 It ain't the storms that blow that'll make you dread the road
 It's the distance that grows heavy now beneath the weight of snow
 I'll always know why we came to Wise River
 Where the snow can fall like cannonballs
 And the lonesome wind blows bitter