[Verse 1]
Rain was needling through my coat
By the bend below the hill
I saw a crooked window shine
And heard a room grown still
I pushed the door with both cold hands
The hinges gave a cry
A woman slid a wooden chair
And said, “You’re safe inside.”
[Chorus]
So pass the cup and clear a place
There’s room beside the fire
A stranger’s only strange until
The singing climbs up higher
I came in owing nothing here
But rain upon my skin
By closing time they knew my name
And waved me back again
[Verse 2]
The barman set a bowl of stew
With bread still warm and brown
A farmer by the chimney asked
Which road had brought me down
I told him of the western pass
The bridge I’d crossed alone
He laughed and said, “You’ve missed the turn—
But you’ve found a better home.”
[Chorus]
So pass the cup and clear a place
There’s room beside the fire
A stranger’s only strange until
The singing climbs up higher
I came in owing nothing here
But rain upon my skin
By closing time they knew my name
And waved me back again
[Verse 3]
The fiddler played a crooked reel
The kind that trips your feet
The girl beside me clapped the time
And nudged me to the beat
I knew no verse, I knew no tune
I had no tale to bring
Then someone taught me the second line
And soon I helped them sing
[Bridge]
Outside, the gutters filled with rain
The dark pressed on the pane
Inside, a dozen voices rose
And made the weather plain
No map can mark the road I took
No signpost point it out
Sometimes you lose the way to find
What home is all about
[Chorus]
So pass the cup and clear a place
There’s room beside the fire
A stranger’s only strange until
The singing climbs up higher
I came in owing nothing here
But rain upon my skin
By closing time they knew my name
And waved me back again
[Outro]
At dawn I’ll take the eastern road
When boots and fields are dry
But if you hear that door swing wide
You’ll know the reason why
I’ll leave a coin beside the bowl
And one good story in
Then turn around before the road
And ask to be let in