MIDNIGHT ON THE RIDGE (OUTLAW COUNTRY) - Levi Stoker
Midnight found me on the ridge again
Where the cedar bows to the mountain wind
An old black Chevy cooling in the dark
Its engine ticking like a tired heart
The valley shimmered beneath the stars
Scattered lights and forgotten farms
Every mile I'd left behind still walked beside me in my mind
I struck a match and watched it burn
Thinking of roads with no return
Some men leave with nothing said
Some keep talking long after they're dead
The silence knows every name I've known
It never lets one walk alone
Meet me at midnight on the ridge
Where heaven hangs just past the bridge
We'll raise our voices to the southern sky
For the ones who lived and the ones who died
Let the organ ring, let the choir rise
Let mercy shine through these weathered eyes
If my story fades with the morning light
I'll leave my soul on the ridge tonight
I carved our initials in an old white oak
Back when laughter came easy as smoke
Tom swore we'd never lose our fire
Now his name is stitched into a church choir
Mama's Bible rests beside my seat
It's leather warm and its pages sweet
Daddy's pocketknife still cuts the twine
Like time can't dull good steel or memory
The wind carried a whippoorwill's cry
Floating through the pines nearby
It sounded less like grief somehow
And more like grace it found me now
Some prayers never leave your lips
They ride the night on fingertips
Meet me at midnight on the ridge
Where heaven hangs just past the bridge
We'll raise our voices to the southern sky
For the ones who lived and the ones who died
Let the organ ring, let the choir rise
Let mercy shine through these weathered eyes
If my story fades with the morning light
I'll leave my soul on the ridge tonight
The blues guitar begins to cry
Like an old friend saying one last goodbye
The piano falls like gentle rain
Washing dust from years of pain
I see every face that shaped my name
None of us ever walked the same
But every scar and every song
Led this wandering heart along
If tomorrow calls another man
I've already made my peace with time
The road may end beneath these stars
But love keeps traveling beyond the lines
Meet me at midnight on the ridge
Where broken hearts become a bridge
We'll sing together through the cool night air
Knowing every soul is waiting there
Let the organ ring, let the choir rise
Lift these stories to the endless skies
When they lay these worn out boots to rest
Tell them I gave this life my best
And if the dawn should speak my name
Tell the world I died the same
Free of my heart
And true to the flame
True to the flame
The last blues note
The last blues note
The last blues note
The last blues note lingers across the hills
And somewhere beyond the darkness
The song keeps rolling home
