Boy From Lawrence County

All these pills and powders could not make me stay
I’m on my merry way in the morning light
Cold New England winters have got me coughing
As the Lincoln turns down Memory Street

“Tell me, Judge, what’s the bounty
On that boy from Lawrence County?
He’s a friend of mine
If I had a way to trap him
Would you swear to pay up Captain?
He’s a friend of mine”

The door swang slowly open
The committee room was dark
The bailiff marked the charts in red
Recall the boy in orange as he slowly passed
Awkward as a calf with its legs wobbling

“Be so kind, tell me, Warden
Who’s in line to die this morning?
Could I see the show?
If he bore his teeth to scare us
Would we see our likeness, Sheriff
In the pearly glow?”

Roll on old silver river through the Iron Range
Past the sleeping trains that wait
Gold and amber petals in your waterways
Like the band of Jesse James in wait

Rain, it beats their window, makes it hard to see
Who’s on a drunken spree in the city lights
Silent are the dying, silent are the young
And it’s silent where I’m from

“Tell me, love, of your husband
Will we see his headlights coming?
Will he know it’s us?
When his tired eyes have lifted
Will he see your bed has shifted?
Is he bad at love?”

“I got the money that I owe you
Something else to show you
Could you meet me there?
Take the road out past the station
To the river basin
I’ll be waiting there”

All these pills and powders could not make me stay
I’m on my merry way in the morning light
All these dying matadors in dusty rings
Have killed my will to sing, and I’m gone

"Tell me, Judge, what’s the bounty
On that boy from Lawrence County?
He’s a friend of mine
If I had a way to trap him
Would you swear to pay up Captain?
He’s a friend of mine"