Dust and Thunder
ELO-style rock opera about a grieving cowboy chasing vengeance across dusty plains while protecting innocents. Feature acoustic guitar, electric guitar, cello, violin, piano, thunderous drums, bass, and dramatic vocal choirs.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Boot prints burned in the dawn
Coffee cold on the stove
Name scratched into the table
Only ghost in this home
Hat on the nail still hangin
Wind hums a weary tone
I take her locket and letters
Ride out alone
[Pre-Chorus]
Every fencepost
Every mile
Got her laughter
Got her smile
But the tracks run
Dark and wild
Straight to you
[Chorus]
Dust and thunder
Hear my vow
I will hunt you
Here and now
But I'll stand between your rage and the towns you’d tear asunder
I’m a grieving man
Not a monster
On these plains of dust and thunder (woah)
On these plains of dust and thunder
[Verse 2]
Church bell cracks like a whip
Over paint-peeled doors
Children chalkin their stories
On the bone-white boards
You drift in smellin of trouble
Cheap smoke and praise
I plant my boots in the doorway
Blockin your gaze (hey!)
[Pre-Chorus]
You want screams and
You want flames
I want mercy
I want names
If I fall here
Brand my grave
“Shield between”
[Chorus]
Dust and thunder
Hear my vow
I will hunt you
Here and now
But I'll stand between your rage and the towns you’d tear asunder
I’m a grieving man
Not a monster
On these plains of dust and thunder (yeah)
On these plains of dust and thunder
[Bridge]
I see her face in every frightened stranger
Her hand in every hand I pull away from danger
My heart’s a broken lantern
Still I hold it high
Guiding all the good ones
Through a blood-red sky (woah-oh)
[Chorus]
Dust and thunder
Hear my vow
I will hunt you
Here and now
Every outlaw
Every shadow that would drag the pure down under
Finds a bullet
Finds an answer
From a grieving man
Not a monster
On these plains of dust and thunder (dust and thunder)
On these plains of dust and thunder
[Outro]
Horse slow-walkin at sunrise
Gun hangs heavy and low
Choirs rise over the hillside
Then fade like smoke
I lay her locket on the hillside stone
Guard the living
Ride alone