I kept the lamp on the high cliff side
I watched the black water turn to tide
I scrubbed the salt from the heavy glass
I watched the gray winter seasons pass
Oh, iron anchor in the desert heat
Where the red clay and the concrete meet
You drift on a porch in the Santa Fe
A thousand miles from the salty spray
I found a room with a peeling wall
I heard the dry summer wind start to call
I saw a chain on the wooden floor
Left by a ghost at the motel door
Oh, iron anchor in the desert heat
Where the red clay and the concrete meet
You drift on a porch in the Santa Fe
A thousand miles from the salty spray
The rust is orange like a dying sun
The long road home is a race we run
I touch the metal and I feel the cold
A heavy story that was never told
No crashing wave to pull the line
No white foam crest or silver pine
Just a porch swing and a dusty breeze
And a hollow hum in the cedar trees
I remember how the harbor smelled
The secret weight that the ocean held
Now you are resting in a sandy yard
While the dry wind hits the window hard
Oh, iron anchor in the desert heat
Where the red clay and the concrete meet
You drift on a porch in the Santa Fe
A thousand miles from the salty spray
I'll bring the oil and I'll bring the light
To guide you home through the desert night
We'll carve a path through the mesa stone
So neither one of us stays alone
Oh, iron anchor in the desert heat
Where the red clay and the concrete meet
You drift on a porch in the Santa Fe
A thousand miles from the salty spray
A thousand miles from the spray
Iron in the sand
Iron in the sand
