There are a number of towns named Crab Orchard throughout the United States, but it seems likely that the song’s title is a nod to the one in West Virginia, a state Molina had ties to.
[Verse 1]
Captain, the horseman, and hound south traveling slowly
My loyalty to crossroads and thresholds
Comes with my rising hope to leave this hunt unfollowed
[Verse 2]
My blood's courage courses to rendezvous
With freedom
With freedom
With freedom
With freedom
[Verse 3]
I swore nothing in my passing (in my passing, in my passing)
Oh, to die like surrender would teach me a lesson
“Judas”, they too would cry
Oh, oriole in the mile before dawn
Do not return a treasonous song unguarded
Crab Orchard was written by Jason Molina.
Songs: Ohia released Crab Orchard on Tue Apr 01 1997.