Down By The River

(album: The Ruffian's Misfortune - 2015)

Gonna take you down by the river
Smell the gunpowder hear the ghost sing
There's kids in the shadows drinking by the water
Smoking, blowing smoke rings
Gonna take you on down to the river
Learn about the viper and the mad dog wine
The bloodstains make a soul shiver
Feel a cold chill running up your spine

Gonna cross the Santa Fe Bridge
Got a pocket full of quarters and a fake ID
Sip a little poison on the Juarez side
There's bones in the ground singing way off key
Gonna cross the Santa Fe Bridge
Got to walk fast keep between the lines
Nobody flinch when shots ring
Out stealing a young souls vital signs

Undertakers look like crows
Red eyed and dressed in black
Undertakers say you cross that river
There's a chance might never come back
Undertakers bury them bones
Way over yonder by the railroad tracks
Undertakers look like crows
Red eyed and dressed in black

Blackbird flies through a broken city
Streets weep for the lost ones
Old folks say it's a crying shame
The kids are dying by damn drug gun
Dogs howl in the old scarred city
Running wild out in the rain
We all cry for those who bleed
Shooting a little thrill into their veins