Intro
Wolfskin stretched across a frame my grandfather bled to tan
Notches down the spine spell out how a starving man began
Some men keep their count in banks they never learn to trust
I keep mine in fur and thread, in blood turned into dust
Verse
Forty below and the creek talked back in cracks and groans
He walked the trapline with iron jaws and breath turned into stone
Six pelts a week paid the debt the trading post kept tight
One skin for flour, one for lead, one to last the night
Skinned by lantern, hands like leather, cracked along the palm
Stitched the numbers into hide so the winter stayed calm
Notch for the brother lost his toes out on the ice
Notch for the spring that made the losing feel like sacrifice
Post man called him reckless for the way he kept his math
Reckless men don't feed a house through eight months of that path
He sold the last pelt cheap to bury what the cold had earned
Kept the ledger in a drawer, said some things ain't meant to burn
Passed it to his son still stiff with frost along the seam
Said the wolf don't haunt you, boy, it's the hunger in the dream
Forty years of tally marks, no ink, just teeth and grain
That hide remembers harder than a stone remembers rain
Chorus
Every notch is a winter, every winter is a name
I don't count my money, I just count what didn't change
Wolfskin ledger on the wall still keeping perfect time
Some men bleed for nothing, I bleed to draw the line
Verse
Now the frame's a corner store, the traps are unpaid rent
Same iron in my knuckles, different kind of element
I keep my count on concrete, chalk marks by the door
Notch for every winter that I made it through before
Landlord speaks in fractions, tries to shrink me down to size
Same trick the post man ran on trappers three lives in disguise
I sold what I could sell, kept what I couldn't lose
My name, my father's ledger, and the boots I wear for shoes
Cousin caught a bid, I notched it next to my own scars
Brother caught a bullet, I notched it under the stars
Ain't bragging on the count, I'm bragging that it's mine
Every mark's a witness that I didn't cross the line
Wolfskin's in the closet now, soft with age and smoke
Still got teeth marks where the winter tried to break the yoke
I run my thumb across it when the bills stack like snow
Reminds me every hunger has a ledger, has a code
Chorus
Every notch is a winter, every winter is a name
I don't count my money, I just count what didn't change
Wolfskin ledger on the wall still keeping perfect time
Some men bleed for nothing, I bleed to draw the line
Bridge
My son asked why the fur looks torn in places, thin with years
I told him every tear's a door somebody walked through scared
He wants a ledger of his own, wants to start the count
I said the first notch is the hardest, boy, don't be afraid to mount
The rest come easier once you learn what they're for
Not the debt, not the dying, just the proof you walked through the door
Outro
