Keep Your Bargain, Stranger

Lyrics

[Verse 1] I took the south road past the county line With my old guitar and a pocket of time At the fork where the blacktop gives way to clay A well-dressed stranger stepped into my way [Verse 2] He said, “I know that sound you’re chasing down I can put your name in every town Just sign your mark where the two roads cross You’ll gain the world, but you’ll count the cost” [Chorus] At the crossroads, I heard him call One hand offered heaven, one hand held it all I laid my guitar down, I looked him in the eye “Keep your bargain, stranger—I was born to try” [Verse 3] He smiled like a man who’d heard that before Then the wind came hard and shook the sycamore I thought of my mother, the rent unpaid And every honest song I’d ever made [Chorus] At the crossroads, I heard him call One hand offered heaven, one hand held it all I laid my guitar down, I looked him in the eye “Keep your bargain, stranger—I was born to try” [Bridge] The years rolled on like a freight train’s cry Some nights I still see those dark eyes But every note I bend, every word I choose Is mine to lose, and mine to use [Guitar Solo] [Final Chorus] At the crossroads, I heard him call One hand offered heaven, one hand held it all I took my guitar up, let the first chord fly “Keep your bargain, stranger—I was born to try” [Outro] South road dust on my worn-out shoes No golden promise, no borrowed blues Just my own two hands beneath that sky And a song that’s mine till the day I die