Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
This blood-freezing song is about a woman who kills her would-be rapist and now fears being haunted by his ghost. The spare arrangement evokes the loneliness of the rural setting for the crime.
[Verse 1]
Caleb Meyer, he lived alone
In them hollerin' pines
And he made a little whiskey for himself
Said it helped to pass the time
[Verse 2]
Long one evening in back of my house
Caleb come around
And he called my name 'til I came out
With no one else around
[Chorus]
Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
Wear them rattlin' chains
But when I go to sleep at night
Don't you call my name
[Verse 3]
Where's your husband, Nellie Kane?
Where's your darling gone?
Did he go on down the mountainside
And leave you all alone?
[Verse 4]
Yes, my husband's gone to Bowlin' Green
To do some business there
Then Caleb threw that bottle down
And grabbed me by my hair
[Chorus]
Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
Wear them rattlin' chains
But when I go to sleep at night
Don't you call my name
[Verse 5]
He threw me in a needle bed
Across my dress he lay
Then he pinned my hands above my head
And I commenced to pray
[Verse 6]
I cried, "My God, I am your child
Send your angels down"
Then feelin' with my fingertips
The bottle neck I found
[Verse 7]
I drew that glass across his neck
As fine as any blade
Then I felt his blood pour fast and hot
Round me where I lay
[Chorus]
Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
Wear them rattlin' chains
But when I go to sleep at night
Don't you call my name
[Chorus]
Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
Wear them rattlin' chains
But when I go to sleep at night
Don't you call my name
Caleb Meyer was written by David Rawlings & Gillian Welch.
Caleb Meyer was produced by T Bone Burnett.
Gillian Welch released Caleb Meyer on Tue Jul 28 1998.