[Intro: Galloping bass and harmonised guitars]

[Verse 1 (Bruce-style soaring vocal)]

Whose woods these are, I think I know

His keep stands high upon the snow

He’ll never mark me riding here

To watch the silence drawing near

[Verse 2]

My steed he stamps the frozen ground

The harness bells the only sound

Between the forest and the mere

The longest night of all the year

[Pre-Chorus (rising harmony)]

The sweeping wind, the easy sweep

Of drifting flakes that call for sleep

[Chorus (full gallop, gang vocals on the repeat)]

The woods are lovely, dark and deep

But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep

And miles to go before I sleep!

[Verse 3]

The shadows stretch like ancient hands

Across this cold and silent land

They whisper rest, they promise peace

Yet duty bids me never cease

[Pre-Chorus (higher this time)]

The moon is watching from on high

A silver eye that will not lie

[Chorus]

The woods are lovely, dark and deep

But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep

And miles to go before I sleep!

[Bridge (tempo drops, clean arpeggios, spoken/narrated)]

Beneath the stars, the endless white

A rider fights the lure of night

One moment more and he’d be gone

Lost forever in the song…

[Instrumental break: twin-lead gallop, harmony solo trading off like the wind]

[Final Chorus (key up a tone, full power)]

The woods are lovely, dark and deep

But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep

And miles to go before I sleep

Miles to go… before I sleep

Miles to go… before I sleep!

[Outro: fading gallop under repeating clean guitar motif of the final line]