If time were a keeper with pockets of gold

I’d ask it to hold our morning for tomorrow

If memory were water I’d pour it in a glass

(Hm)

And seal the rim against our sorrow

If love were a lantern I’d carry it low

So every step still finds us, calm and narrow

I’d keep you safe, I’d keep us whole

On the Dowie Dens of Yarrow

(Mm)

What if I press these hours in a book, and keep

(Hm)

What if our talk lives quiet in a jar, we hold

What if small days turn priceless on the shelf, we press

What if our names ride steady in a margin, we seal

Then I spend slow, like saving every dime

And walk beside you on the Dowie Dens of Yarrow

(Oh, ahh)

I want a thousand things

I only have so much time

I count the small hours

The clock keeps the change

I spend my hours on you

I choose

I stay right by your side

Dowie Dens of Yarrow

(Hm)

(Mmm, oh)

O late at e'en, and drinking the wine

Ere we made the lawing

On the Dowie Dens o' Yarrow

I once kept a small box under my bed

Empty as an unanswered window

Now it holds a crease-worn note and a photo strip

I latched it shut, the quiet feeling steady

If dreams were coins, I’ve spent them here

Nothing left to beg or borrow

Full heart, quiet breath, steady feet

On the Dowie Dens of Yarrow

(Mmm)

I want a thousand things

I only have so much time

Time runs thin in a small cup

The clock keeps the change

I spend my hours on you

I choose

I stay right by your side

Dowie Dens of Yarrow

(Mm-hmm)

For there in a den, were nine armed men

On the bloody braes o' Yarrow