I Sister, sweet sister Come talk with me In the sun withered willow of dawn Our Mother is ill In sleep lay she Dear Father has risen and gone You’ve the spun golden mane of our mother And flawless pure skin of milk-white While, I’ve the squared hands of our brother And my hair a dark, quarrelsome night II Sister, sweet sister Come walk with me Take hold my warm, loving hand I’ll wind us through The twisting trees That twine their way down to the strand My warm, trusted hand’s here to guide you O’er stone, through nettle and thorn Though the boughs in the wind bend beside you You are safe in the cradle of morn’ III Oh sister, my sister Let’s rest us here On the banks where the swift rivers flow We’ll cool our heels My sister dear In the rushing black waters below My fool, tired hands cannot fetch you As you sink and you swim and you sink How clumsy of I to not catch you Now you’re swallowed in whole by the drink IV Sister, poor sister Lord keep you then Forever with Mother reside My steady sure hands Will stitch and mend The cloth that keeps Father’s eyes dried

I Change of heart Change of clothes I changed my mind That’s how it goes Is a snake a snake
 When it sheds its skin? Am I still as bad As I have ever been? 

Ch I’m just as bad now as I’ve ever been I’m as bad now as I’ve ever been 
 II Pick it up
 Lay it down Once it’s lost Too soon it’s found Keep turning ‘round ’Til you’re right back here again I’m as bad now As I have ever been

 Ch I’m just as bad now as I’ve ever been I’m as bad now as I’ve ever been 

 III So tell the truth Don’t lie to me Only fools Speak So foolishly And I ain’t no fool And I’ll not pretend I know I’m bad As I have ever been Ch I’m just as bad now as I’ve ever been I’m as bad now as I’ve ever been Oh to shake these ways of sin I have tried time and again But I’m as bad now as I have ever been

I Cover well my bones In cool, dark water I’m a stone At the bottom of a lake When in comes the dawns I see no sun I am gone Dragged further by the wake Should it rain Should the snow fly I’ll remain By and By Yes, I will wait here A soul forgotten Cold and alone A sunken stone II Cover well my bones In cool, dark water I’m a stone At the bottom of a lake The current yawns Evermore, I'm drowning I am known As your discarded, old keepsake Should it rain Should the snow fly I’ll remain By and By Yes, I will wait here A soul forgotten Cold and alone A sunken stone

I My daddy stood tall About six foot four When he was my age now He came home from the war He took up the Good Book And he laid down his sword And enlisted his allegiance to the service of the Lord The first thing I can recall That ever I heard Was his thunder booming voice Just a beltin' out the word It's as if I were asleep Until that moment then When I was ushered into life by his sweet Amen II The cancer came on quickly And he grew so weak A shriveled figure in his bed, That could hardly speak I knelt down beside him (And I) begged him not to go (There were) so many things about him I'd never get to know I was twelve years old When I leaned for sure How life is stricken with death And there ain't no cure I ran my fingers down his wrinkles Evey crease I traced And I could read the man's life by the lines on his face III Even though my mother Did the best she could To raise up a son who was gentle and good Come nine years later I'm sittin' in jail The temporary guest Of a cold grey cell There ain't no excusing For the things I done Seduced by the power and the glory of a gun I can hear in every echo Of these walls of stone My thunder booming bullets Ripping flesh from bone IV Soon they'll lead me to the gallery And strap me down And all those who've come to witness They will gather 'round But tonight I'm just a thinking How I'll never grow old I'll not age and gain wisdom As the years unfold In this polished metal mirror My skin is smooth Not a crinkle, not a fold Not a ripple, nor a groove Just a blank and barren emptiness That proves the case That you can read a man's life by the lines on his face

I Yeah, you might walk in through the front door But they gonna wheel you out the back And heap up with all the others In a hellish cordwood stack And while you wait this to happen Folks gonna come around to grieve And the get well cards are piling up And all ya wanna do is leave It don’t matter if you got a million friends If you've got a good and loving wife If you've kind and well adjusted kids And you led a moral life It don’t matter if you’re begging If you’re pleading and you’re crying They don’t let you go home If you’re dying II You can spend these days in meditation Or can waste them with TV While they fed you useless medication To keep you drowsy and pain free And you go dreaming of you garden Maybe, strumming your guitar And that old stray that you’ve been feeding Will she wonder where you are? From this room, there’s no escaping You’re shackled to machines Here comes the warden with the bedpan Gotta keep it nice and clean Yes, it’s complex and complicated Perhaps oversimplifying Still: They don’t let you go home If you’re dying III They gonna be here any moment Stand there at the foot of your bed Measure you from the tips of your toenails To the last hair on your head For the box that they're selecting To take and lower you down That's the only way you're leaving Is when they plant you in the ground Ch It don’t matter about your bank account Or the colour of your skin You better hope that there’s a Heaven And that they gonna let you in Better pray you got a mansion ‘Cause Brother, I ain’t lying Nah They don’t let you go home If you’re dying

I I’m cold and I’m weary I’m lost and Hell bent Oh Lord, light the way To bad songs and worse women I lost every cent Lord, light the way The last leaf has fallen There’s a ring ‘round the moon The sky’s turned a chain smoking grey And I’ll no more come callin’ And I’ll be gone soon Please grant me rest for the day II I’ve been walking since Wednesday Without any shoes Lord, light the way I sank in the creek bed And the laces tore through Lord, light the way The hours are thinning And my prospects are slim I know that I’ve been led astray There’s no new beginnings We can’t start again But please grant me a rest for a day III Milwaukee was wicked California, so cruel Lord, light the way Each stop on my travels Has proved me the fool Lord, light the way I have come not for pardon Nor pity I swear I just need a dry place to lay The shed in the garden Would be more than fair Please grant me some rest for the day IV I’m trying to change But it ain’t goin’ good Lord, light the way Ah, to square all my debts I wish that I could Lord, light the way And I know you don’t owe me Tis I who owe you No reason you should let me stay And I’ll leave right this minute If you want me to But please grant me a rest for the day V I have wasted my years And I cheated my friends Lord, light the way Now I can’t do nothing To make my amends Lord, light the way

I We’d decided then and there That the world we would share We'd go forth and live as brothers He took the fields to the East And we divided up Beasts The cattle, the sheep, and the others Where as he’d settled down I roamed all around Aimed to see all that’s worthy of seeing Then livestock I sold And I squandered my gold But the lack of possessions was freeing CH: Wicked Earth Curse my bones Wicked Earth Yield unto the plow And curse my wretched bones II I’d headed out West Where I never found rest With the winter wolves ruthlessly trailing And I grew ill at ease With the birds in the trees And the songs they were endlessly wailing So I vagabonded on Till I grew too alone Resolved I should take me a lover But that thought from the start Put this rot in my heart For the flesh of the bride of my brother CH: Wicked Earth Curse my bones Wicked Earth Yield unto the plow And curse my wretched bones III I decided there and then He truly was no kin I’d hold him as brother no longer As I set off back East My fever increased The gnaw in my guts growing stronger I entered unseen To his Eden pristine Engulfed in rage of desire Where I now contemplate On my treacherous fate Which has swallowed the world in its fire CH: Wicked Earth Curse my bones Wicked Earth Yield unto the plow And curse my wretched bones Wicked Earth Curse my bones Wicked Earth Come drink of me now And curse my wretched bones Come drink of me now And curse my wretched bones

I I was born on the county line Torn 'tween the here and there And I breathed that restless tension the first time I tasted air And I can taste it still It's bitter and black I never thought much of where I was Only cared for where I was going But how things could turn out like this I had no way of knowing If I could take it all back Take it all back Ch: I've been this whole world over I've seen a great many thing But is there somewhere, Lord I wonder Where they will let you leave your troubles on the train II I was still so young When lit out on my own I fell in with fools who led me astray, used me up and then was gone And the hammer came down And it landed on me I know that I done wrong and for that I paid my due I've been all over Hell And Hayesburg and half of Georgia too And I'll never be free Never be free Ch: I've been this whole world over I've seen a great many thing But is there somewhere, Lord I wonder Where they let you leave your troubles on the train III And I still keep your letter with me And I read it every night And I know you long to hear from me, but I forget just what to write It's in my mind but for a moment And then that moment is gone How I wish that I could see you And hold you one more time But I've wrecked it all, I'm ruined now, such a wasted life is mine And I can never go home Never go home Ch: I've been this whole world over I've seen a great many thing If I came back now I wonder Would you let me leave my troubles on the train?

I Out behind the Linville Motel Back Beyond the Cottonwood trees Sweet Marie, she gave a smile to me And our hands were barely touch As she looked into my eyes Down sank the lonesome moon Into the midnight sky Ch And if nothing ever changes And it all remains the same Could we stay frozen in this time? And if nothing ever changes I don't suppose I would complain And we'll stay frozen in this time II Simple Jim sat by the river Sailing paper boats at sea Blown by the broken breeze Of forgotten memories And his dreams are all behind him And his days, they too shall pass Echoed now, the whispered words: "Nothing good can last" Ch Ch And if nothing ever changes And it all remains the same Could we stay frozen in this time? And if nothing ever changes I don't suppose I would complain And we'll stay frozen in this time III Sally Jane stood by the window Catching shadows in the rain Streetlamp reflecting light back through the windowpane As it spills across her face It sets a twinkle in her eyes Just as the lonesome sun Breaks through the morning sky Ch Ch And if nothing ever changes And it all remains the same Could we stay frozen in this time? And if nothing ever changes I don't suppose I would complain And we'll stay frozen in this time

I There come a soft, sweet whistle Through the cracks that scar the door And a low and steady humming Rumbling constant ’neath the floor Lay me down Lay me down The moonlight stoney fences Twisting tattered up the hill A thunderclap of scattering crows Shake free a windowsill Lay me down Lay me down Lay me down By the water cool and still II There’s fires far off burning Swells of smoke choke up the air And the hours keep turning For there’s no one time will spare Lay me down Lay me down Leaflets line the alley Fliers, pamphlets, old handbills Sent adrift into the rail yard For the wind blows where it will Lay me down Lay me down Lay me down By the water cool and still Bridge There’s static on the TV Stale bread upon the shelf I often don’t believe me When I’m talkin’ to myself Each moment is a bargain A cruel and rotten deal But each breath, it brings the promise Of those waters cool and still Lay me down III My hopes belied my fears My fears my hope belied For as I slept they thought me dying And only sleeping when I died Lay me down Lay me down Encircle me in roses Lilac, daisy, daffodil And blanket me with briar For my bones can’t bear the chill Lay me down Lay me down Lay me down By the water cool and still

I The road is hard And the road is long Lift me up and carry me home I have wandered far Aimlessly I roam Lift me up and carry me home How I ache to be In its arms again Hold me close, don't never let me go If I had my way I'd been there yesterday Lift me up and carry me home II I have grown so tired This world has strippped me clean to bone Lift me up and carry me home It's so dark out here And I never should have gone Lift me up and carry me home How it sings to me And it calls me in Though much has changed - yes, surely this I know If I had my say I'd never left there anyway Lift me up and carry me home III All my ragged dreams Left me broken and alone Lift me up and carry me home If turn back now I could be there 'fore the dawn Lift me up and carry me home How I wish to see This old journey end To bury all the burdens that I tow I'll be there soon, I pray Though I know that I won't stay

I I am a clean cut country kid Barely three weeks off the farm I'm just a fresh faced fella Full-a simple Southern charm In a big city dinner Washing dishes for my pay When some wealthy doctor's daughter Keeps a shootin' looks my way Well she creeps into the kitchen Like she's gonna rob the place Even a rube like me can plainly see That she's got the curse of grace II She says, "I feel the need to know you" And before I can turn around Some health department cronies Come and shut the dinner down They're boarding up the windows And they're smashing up the plates She yanks me out the back door Where her limousine awaits In a Towncar taken hostage And me without my mace Another hapless rescued captive Of the girl who's cursed with grace III She pulls me close beside her And starts to purring in my ear Saying, "Tell me all about you And don't skip a thing my dear." Before I can say word one The car comes screeching to a stop She's saying, "Come along now honey, Meet my Momma and my Pop" She leads me to the house We walk the marble staircase To her embarrassment of riches Her birthright curse of grace IV When the bald-headed butler Asks if he could take my coat He meant my hashslinger's garment And a lump swelled my throat But being the polite country Gentleman I am I'd not insult her hospitality By thinking I should scram I should've felt silly About that apron 'roud my waist But she treated me with dignity Her trademark curse of grace V There's about a million rooms And she escorts me through 'em all Into the biggest library That I swear I ever saw A billion books All leather bound That ain't nobody ever read She says, "If you think that's something, wait until you see my bed" I've no idea what that means But we suddenly embrace For I can't resist her beauty Her bewitching curse of grace VI She goes to kiss my cheek And I get all weak in the knees Struck by the hammer of John Henry 'Neith the sword of Damocles I grow suspicious of my luck But I ain't yet sure that I should go And could I make my way back through this maze I surely did not know I occurs to me someone taken here Could vanish with no trace But her smile's sweet and innocent She's got the curse of grace VII Then staggers in her father The good Doctor man himself And he hands me a cigar and says, "Here, take this for your health" He asked, "What school did you attend?" And I tell him Davie High He says, "I like your sense of humor, Take my wrist watch when I die" I look up and there's her mother Five pounds of cold creme on her face But she walks down the stairs with elegance That same shared curse of grace VIII She says, "So what day is the wedding, I'll be proud to call you son" Her Daddy must have seen me sweating 'Cause he went and drew his gun He said, "You'll marry my daughter On the 5th day of May" I cried, "No! No! No!" And then broke free and ran away I crashed through a window All bound up in curtain lace Ran shouting back across the lawn "You can keep that curse of grace" IX I'm on the first bus back to Mocksville When I arrive I'll kiss the ground I might buy me a few chickens Raise some pigs and settle down I thought the fast paced city Was where I wanted to go But Sweet Lord, give me Country living Make it boring, make it slow That city nearly drove me crazy And I only had a taste Well, I'm warning should you go there Man, beware that curse of grace