The Fields Go Still

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Past the cane rows, where the black soil parts, A pale shape wanders with no face or heart. It never calls, it never leaves a track, But the beans come up with their color drained black. [Chorus] Who walks there when the fields go still? Who takes the green from the furrowed hill? No hand can hold it, no name can stay; It plucks life from the ground and carries it away. [Verse 2] Old Miss June said, “Child, don’t follow that sound,” As the well rope shivered and the moon went down. The hounds tucked tail by the split-rail gate, And the corn stood bowed like it knew its fate. [Chorus] Who walks there when the fields go still? Who takes the green from the furrowed hill? No hand can hold it, no name can stay; It plucks life from the ground and carries it away. [Bridge] Maybe it’s a hunger, maybe it’s a warning, Maybe it’s the debt that the land keeps scoring. Maybe it’s the wind wearing someone’s skin; Whatever it is, don’t let it in. [Verse 3] I saw it at dawn by the cottonwood tree, A shape in the mist looking straight through me. Then the creek ran thin and the roots turned gray; It took what it wanted and drifted away. [Chorus] Who walks there when the fields go still? Who takes the green from the furrowed hill? No hand can hold it, no name can stay; It plucks life from the ground and carries it away. [Outro] Past the cane rows, when the night winds roam, The fields keep quiet, but they aren’t alone.