Hickory

On that hickory grove, where we used to meet
Where the branches bare and the willows weep
There stood a man, like six foot three
With these charcoal eyes and sympathy
He took my hand on bended knee
Looked me in the eye and said to thee
My god of love up in a tree
These snarled limbs and history
He stood among us all in his grief
His towered form eclipsing all but me
My bark and bite and all that I've seen
Will lead me back to you, Old Hickory
His windy song and his soiled seed
His mighty trunk and his need for me
This forest lord, or this water thief
He's no mighty oak, he's just a hickory

Yeah
Just a hickory
Yeah

Oh in that hickory grove, where we used to meet
Where the branches bare and the willows weep
There stood a man, more than six foot three
With these eyes of charcoal and sympathy
He took my hand on bended knee
Looked me in the eye and said to thee
My god of love up in a tree
These snarled limbs and history
He stood among us all in his grief
His towered form eclipsing all but me
My bark and bite and everything I've seen
Will lead me back to you, Old Hickory

But on a starless night up in a moonlit grove
He's standing bare and proud alone in winter snow
There was a wretched smell, and then an amber glow,
And then the flame licked loud, and then we had to go
Speeding dumb and fast along these country roads
Checking rearview mirrors, thinking what I should know
That he is dead and gone, that he is just a ghost
But when I check that mirror I see what I fear most

I see his windy song
I see his soiled seed
I see that mighty trunk
I see his name for me
I see the forest lord
I see a water thief
There is no mighty oak
Its just a hickory
I see his windy song
I see his soiled seed
I see that mighty trunk
I see no name for me
I see the forest lord
I see a water thief
There is no mighty oak
There's just a hickory