The Mercy Beat

There's a high wind blowin, & the stars are shining bright
Oh what a night, this is gonna be--
I think I'll let the world sleep without me
I got one eye open, one eye closed
& my thin body's trembling beneath the bedclothes
My hearts beatin' against the roof of my mouth
--It's almost time to get out of this house

I got one hand on the radio, one hand on the wheel
I got my right foot on the floorboard,--
& I'm preparing to kill or be killed

There's a high wind blowin', & the stars are shining bright
& the rain upon the tarmac
--helps me sail through the traffic lights
I'm heading down to the dock of the bay
--to feel the power of the waves
I'm gonna move up close to that wind
& wrestle with the thoughts solitude always brings

Y'see I'm stuck between hell & the deep blue sea
& I know that water's sucked under better man than me
I was just another western guy
--with desires that couldn't be satisfied
So one day, I asked the angels for inspiration
--but the devil bought me a drink
& he's been buying them ever since

He's had the liquor on my tongue
--feel like the sea upon the sand
He's had me signing confessions
--from this shaking hand
He's had me struggling to hang onto hope--
Like a drunken sailor in a tugboat
With a bottle of vodka in my overcoat
& my dog eared bible lost--overboard

Y'see he tricked me into temptation
So I've tricked him into this confrontation
I never said I was the man I appeared to be
Not the flesh wrapped around the bones of necessity
Or the soul on fire--scribbling thoughts for posterity

I'm gonna have little lucifer, runnin' off to purgatory
--with his tail between his legs
I'm gonna teach him a lesson
--he ain't ever gonna forget
All the vultures & crows are fixin up some tombstones
But they won't be chewing the meat off my bones

There's a high wind blowin' & the stars are shining bright
Me & him are gonna have a little knife fight
--in the bowels of the big city skyline
Oh this feelin' inside runs dark & deep
--Tonight my hearts not thumping
--A Mercy Beat

I was just another western guy
With desires that couldn't be--satisfied

Oh what a night, this is gonna be--
I think I'll let the world sleep without me
Oh what a night, this is gonna be--
I think I'll let the world sleep without me