Cautious Man

[Verse 1] Billy 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 [Verse 2] Well, Billy met a young girl in the early days of May It was there in her arms he let his cautiousness slip away And 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 [Bridge] On his right hand, Billy'd tattooed the word "love" And on his lеft hand was the word "fear" And in which hand he hеld his fate was never clear Come Indian summer, he took his young lover for his bride With his own hands built her a great house down by the riverside [Verse 3] Now Billy was an honest man, he wanted to do what was right He worked hard to fill their lives with happy days and loving night And alone on his knees in the darkness, for steadiness he'd pray For he knew in a restless heart the seed of betrayal lay [Bridge] One night Billy awoke from a terrible dream calling 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 And when he got there, he didn't find nothing but road [Verse 4] 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