2026 Competition Entry:
The Dice by Kyle Horn
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Lyrics
We roll back the thunder once
Roll back the thunder twice
We roll back the sorrow just before we
pick up and roll the dice
We drove out of Comburo County
Underneath a gunmetal sky
Past the pine groves where ghost lilies grow
on farms that vanished into the night
Ten years we’ve been trading cages
Chasing wages up and down Cody Road
Last look at the hills while our gas tank fills
That evening breeze beginning to blow
I’d say it’s evergreen
rainclouds and gasoline
I’d say it’s evergreen
My love for you
We could build a house on the prairie
Grow a little garden for us
Crushed like the stones on these gravel roads
Those ruby dreams are turning to dust
So goodbye gas station Rudy
The old dog by the twisted flagpole
He looks into my eyes in sweet reply
he speaks the words right into my soul
(says) It’s fine to be alive
So good to be alive
It’s fine to be alive
On Earth, with you
We roll back the thunder once
Roll back the thunder twice
We roll back the sorrow just before we
pick up and roll the dice
Copyright 2026: Kyle Horn
Roll back the thunder twice
We roll back the sorrow just before we
pick up and roll the dice
We drove out of Comburo County
Underneath a gunmetal sky
Past the pine groves where ghost lilies grow
on farms that vanished into the night
Ten years we’ve been trading cages
Chasing wages up and down Cody Road
Last look at the hills while our gas tank fills
That evening breeze beginning to blow
I’d say it’s evergreen
rainclouds and gasoline
I’d say it’s evergreen
My love for you
We could build a house on the prairie
Grow a little garden for us
Crushed like the stones on these gravel roads
Those ruby dreams are turning to dust
So goodbye gas station Rudy
The old dog by the twisted flagpole
He looks into my eyes in sweet reply
he speaks the words right into my soul
(says) It’s fine to be alive
So good to be alive
It’s fine to be alive
On Earth, with you
We roll back the thunder once
Roll back the thunder twice
We roll back the sorrow just before we
pick up and roll the dice
Copyright 2026: Kyle Horn
Author
Bio
As a young man I performed a guitar/vocal act in clubs throughout rural Iowa. Then life got busy: I laid down my guitar for the next thirty years. During those years I watched the American dream fade — “big ag” displaced family farms and economic opportunity felt like a memory. “The Dice” is my story: a man who watched his world disappear. He takes one last gamble — supported by the woman he loves — hoping there’s still a place for them on the other side.
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