Cautious Man

Bill Horton was a cautious man of the road

He walked lookin' over his shoulder

And remained faithful to its code

When something caught his eye

He'd measure his need

And then very carefully he'd proceed

Billy met a young girl

In the early days of May

It was there in her arms

He let his cautiousness slip away

In their lovers twilight

As the evening sky grew dim

He'd lay back in her arms

And laugh at what had happened to him

On his right hand Billy'd tattooed the word love

And on his left hand was the word fear

And in which hand he held his fate

Was never clear

Come Indian summer he took his young lover for his bride

And with his own hands

Built her a great house down by the riverside

Now Billy was a honest man

He wanted to do what was right

He worked hard to fill their lives

With happy days and loving nights

Alone on his knees in the darkness

For steadiness he'd pray

For he knew in a restless heart

The seed of betrayal lay

One night Billy woke from a terrible dream

Callin' his wife's name

She lay breathing beside him in a peaceful sleep

A thousand miles away

He got dressed in the moonlight

And down to the highway he strode

When he got there

He didn't find nothing but road

Billy felt a coldness rise up inside him

That he couldn't name

Just as the words tattooed 'cross his knuckles

He knew would always remain

At their bedside he brushed the hair from his wife's face

As the moon shone on her skin so white

Filling their room in the beauty

Of God's fallen light