Where You Are Is Home

Lyrics

[Intro] The frost has stitched the pass shut tight Your candle holds against the white [Verse 1] I left when the barley leaned gold in the field With a knife at my belt and a promise to heal Now the river wears iron, the pines bow low And each mile homeward is a mile through snow At the old boundary stone, where the black crows feed I find your red thread caught on a thorn like a lead I tuck it inside where the cold cannot reach And carry your name through the wind off the heath [Pre-Chorus] If the road takes my strength, if the night takes the trail I will follow the ridge by the mark of your veil [Chorus: Female and Male] I’ll be by your side when the hard winds rise When the doors shake loose and the daylight hides Keep one ember safe; I’ll come through the snow I’ll be by your side—where you are is home [Verse 2] You keep the hearth alive with the last split pine Count the long dark weeks by the scratch on the beam The roof groans once, then settles in place You lift your chin to the weather’s hard face My boots lose their shape in the drifts by the creek But your voice in my memory steadies my feet No banner, no feast, no song for the hall Could pull me as strong as your name through it all [Pre-Chorus] If the road takes my strength, if the night takes the trail I will follow the ridge by the mark of your veil [Chorus: Female and Male] I’ll be by your side when the hard winds rise When the doors shake loose and the daylight hides Keep one ember safe; I’ll come through the snow I’ll be by your side—where you are is home [Bridge: Female] I hear the latch move beneath the storm I set two bowls beside the fire [Bridge: Male] The snow falls off me onto the floor Your hand finds mine; the years grow quiet [Final Chorus: Female and Male] I’ll be by your side when the hard winds rise When the doors shake loose and the daylight hides Keep one ember safe; I have come through the snow I’ll be by your side—where you are is home I’ll be by your side, let the long winter go I’ll be by your side—where you are is home [Outro] The frost lets go of the field at dawn Your hand in mine, and the road is gone