[Intro – soft fiddle melody, distant tractor rumble] August sky hangs heavy grey Wind tastes like coming rain [Verse 1 – acoustic guitar rhythm, steady foot tap] Ninety days of sun and frost Every hour counted lost Engines roar before the dawn Sleep is just a word that's gone Wheat heads bow in golden rows God knows which way this will go [Pre-Chorus – fiddle rises, drums come in soft] Clouds roll fast across the fjord We don't get to ask for more [Chorus – full band, rough harmonies] Harvest fast before the rain Every bushel every grain Some years bread some years feed Some years bills are all you keep We bend our backs we hold our breath This is how we earn our death [Verse 2 – harmonica joins, guitar picks up] Tractor lights cut through the dark Children bring us coffee stark Wife checks weather every hour No one speaks about the power That the sky holds over us All our work can turn to dust [Pre-Chorus – fiddle swells] Bank man wrote three times this spring He don't care how the wind sings [Chorus – louder, raw vocal delivery] Harvest fast before the rain Every bushel every grain Some years bread some years feed Some years bills are all you keep We grow the wheat that feeds the north No one knows what it is worth [Bridge – quiet, only guitar and voice] Short days cold ground hard hands This land don't give second chances We don't pray for great reward We just pray we can afford [Solo – mournful soaring fiddle] (Instrumental Solo) [Final Chorus – all instruments, tired proud vocals] Harvest fast before the rain Every bushel every grain Some years bread some years feed Some years you just get to be We stand here while the storm breaks This is all the life we make [Outro – fading guitar, distant thunder] Tomorrow we will start again That's just how it's always been