Pack That Left Me Behind

Intro

ooh-oh, ooh-oh (howl)

na-na-na, na-na (go, go)

Verse

He learned the trail before he learned his name,

Silver fur, a map of runes along his flank.

Mama showed the river where the minnows flame,

Papa taught him silence, taught him how to rank.

They chased the dawn on paws that knew the air,

Closed tight as pages in a book you kept.

One morning there were only prints and nothing there,

Only a low wind where the sleeping mothers slept.

Pre-chorus

He kept the last laugh in his throat (ah-ah),

Kept the moonlight like a scar (ooh),

Every scent a memory to float,

Every path another star.

Chorus

I run for the pack that left me behind, (oh-oh)

I howl for the lost and the small, (howl, howl)

My shadow is longer than the miles I find, (oh-oh)

I call and there's no answer at all.

I run for the pack that left me behind, (howl)

I howl for the lost and the small, (oh-oh)

Snow hides the tracks that used to shine, (na-na)

I call and there's no answer at all.

Verse

He learned the hush of hunters with cold steel hands,

A snare that sang like silver, bit the tightest seam.

He watched the ridge where smoke broke into bands,

Felt a ribbon of pain and the folding of a dream.

He slipped through pines with one paw stained,

Each step a ledger of what he'd known.

The moon kept faith the whole night waned,

But the road ahead was all his own.

Pre-chorus

He kept the last laugh in his throat (ah-ah),

Kept the moonlight like a scar (ooh),

Every scent a memory to float,

Every path another star.

Chorus

I run for the pack that left me behind, (oh-oh)

I howl for the lost and the small, (howl, howl)

My shadow is longer than the miles I find, (oh-oh)

I call and there's no answer at all.

I run for the pack that left me behind, (howl)

I howl for the lost and the small, (oh-oh)

Snow hides the tracks that used to shine, (na-na)

I call and there's no answer at all.

Bridge

On the ridge he stops and turns his face (turn, turn),

Sees a world too wide for one set of paws.

He remembers warmth, the feel of a place,

Now it's just the taste of iron and floss.

He lifts his head — a thin, thin cry (howl),

Like someone reading names nobody kept.

The stars are eyes that do not lie,

The night folds him where memory slept.

Chorus

I run for the pack that left me behind, (oh-oh)

I howl for the lost and the small, (howl, howl)

My shadow is longer than the miles I find, (oh-oh)

I call and there's no answer at all.

I run for the pack that left me behind, (howl)

I howl for the lost and the small, (oh-oh)

Snow hides the tracks that used to shine, (na-na)

I call and there's no answer at all.