Ron Madore

Lyrics

Red dirt on my skin
©2026 R. Madore

Red dirt on my skin...

I was born where the fence posts lean
Moth-eaten tarp over a rusted machine
Mama kept a ledger in a church shoe box
Daddy left gumbo on the stove till it locked
I learned quick how the hard things stay
How a cracked front step can hold all day
By twelve I knew the smell of rain on tin
And how a lie sounds when the front door shuts in

Red dirt on my skin, grit in my name
I've been dragged through the ditch and I came back the same
Red dirt on my skin, dust on my hands
If you want me gone, you better dig where I stand
No I, won't fold, I won't fold
I just roll, I just roll
Red dirt on my skin

State road rolls by like a warning sign
Past the feed store graveyard and the broken Coke line
Sunday boots on a laundry chair
Screen door slapping hot air everywhere
My uncle laughed with a missing front tooth
Said, "Boy, truth hits harder than youth"
Now I keep my head where the hell can't reach
And I talk to the scars like they talk back to me

Red dirt on my skin, grit in my name
I been dragged through the ditch and I came back the same
Red dirt on my skin, dust on my hands
If you want me gone, you better dig where I stand
No I, won't fold, I won't fold
I just roll, I just roll
Red dirt on my skin

Mmm Mmm
Mmm Mmm

Let 'em chase the shine, let 'em want the gold
I got a heart like a barn in a thunderstorm hold
Every bruise I wear tells me where I been
And every hard mile made a path I can win

[Chorus]
Red dirt on my skin, grit in my name
I been dragged through the ditch and I came back the same
Red dirt on my skin, dust on my hands
If you want me gone, you better dig where I stand
No I, won't fold, I won't fold
I just roll, I just roll
Red dirt on my skin

Mmm Mmm
Mmm Mmm