Coattail Hunter

Lyrics

[Verse 1] He’d show up where the cameras were, boots clean as Sunday shoes Talk big about the backwoods like he’d cut the trail in two Then he met a woman who could track a buck through frozen ground She built her name with her own hands; he let her wear the crown [Pre-Chorus] Now the papers sit between them, little boots beside the door He’s already telling someone new he’s been alone before [Chorus] He’s a coattail hunter, chasing somebody else’s name Borrowing her family’s fire, then acting like he made the flame He’ll pose beside the prize, let the whole town think he’s true But the best thing that he ever tracked was a woman pulling through Now he’s got his eye on the next warm welcome, next open gate A coattail hunter never stays to clean up what he leaves behind [Verse 2] He learned her routes and stories, learned which friends to call his own Took the credit at the supper table, made her hard work sound like home Their child knows the sound of doors and careful grown-up talk While he’s out making introductions on somebody else’s walk [Pre-Chorus] At the lodge the host tells stories, old outdoor tales run deep He smiles like he belongs there, while the truth won’t let him sleep [Chorus] He’s a coattail hunter, chasing somebody else’s name Borrowing her family’s fire, then acting like he made the flame He’ll pose beside the prize, let the whole town think he’s true But the best thing that he ever tracked was a woman pulling through Now he’s got his eye on the next warm welcome, next open gate A coattail hunter never stays to clean up what he leaves behind [Bridge] She can read a broken branch, a track pressed in the clay She’ll teach that child to stand up straight and know their own way No borrowed story, no borrowed pride, no hand-me-down excuse A father’s more than standing near the frame when there’s a picture to use [Final Chorus] He’s a coattail hunter, chasing somebody else’s name Borrowing her family’s fire, but he can’t keep the flame He’ll pose beside the prize, let the whole town think he’s true While she builds a life that doesn’t need him to come through He’s got his eye on the next warm welcome, next open gate But a coattail hunter’s only famous till the truth gets told [Outro] She’s still on her own two feet, and the child knows what is real The woods keep every footprint; time will show the trail