"In a clap-board shack with a roof of tin, Where the rain came down and leaked within, A young mother frozen on a concrete floor, With a bottle and a box and a cradle of straw."

"Well saturday gives what sunday steals, And a child is born on his brother's heels, Come sunday morn the first-born is dead, In a shoebox tied with a ribbon of red."

"Tupelo-o-o! Hey, Tupelo! You will reap just what you sow."

"I just made a simple gesture, They jumped up and nailed it to my shadow, My gesture was a hooker, You know, my shadow's made of timber."

"I am the black crow king, Keeper of the forgotten corn, The King!"

"O Warden, I surender to you, Your fists cain't hurt me anymore, You know, these hands will never wash, These dirty Death Row floors."

"O You kings of halls and ends of halls, You will die within these walls, And I'll go, all down the row, Knockin' on Joe."

"Blind Lemon Jefferson is a-comin', Tap tap tappin', with his cane."

"Here comes the Judgement train! Git on board!"

"Numbin' the runt of reputation they call rat frame, Top-E as a tourniquet, A low tune whistles across his grave, Forever the slave of his Six Strings."

"A thousand Marys lured me, To feathered beds and fields of glover, Bird with crooked wing cast, Its wicked shadow over, A bauble moon did mock, And trinket stars did smile, Your funeral, my trial."

"The carny had a horse, all skin and bone, A bow-backed nag, that he named "Sorrow", Now it is buried in a shallow grave, In the then parched meadow."

"And as the company passed from the valley, into a higher ground, The rain beat on the ridge and on the meadow, and on the mound, Until nothing was left, nothing at all except the body of Sorrow, That rose in time, to float upon the surface of the eaten soil."

"I hear stories from the chamber, How Christ was born into a manger, And like some ragged stranger died up on the cross, And might I say it seems to fitting in its way, He was a carpenter by trade, Or at least that's what I'm told."

"In heaven His throne is made of gold, Where the ark of His testament is stowed, A throne from which I'm told all history does unfold, Down here it's made of wood and wire, And my body is on fire, And God is never far away."

"And the mercy seat is melting, And I think my blood is boiling, And in a way I'm spoiling, All the fun with all this truth and consequence. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, And anyway I told the truth, And I'm not afraid to die."

"My oh My,what a wretched Life. I was born on the day that my poor mama died. I was cut from Her belly with a stanley knife. My daddy did a jig with the drunk midwife"

"O poor heart, I was doomed from the start, Doomed to play the villian's part, I was the baddest Johnny in the apple cart, My blood was blacker than the chambers of a dead nun's heart."

"Who's that yonder all in flames? Draggin' behind him a sack of chains Who's that yonder all in flames? Up jumped the Devil and staked his claim"

"O no don't go O no O slow down Joe! The righteous path is straight as an arrow, Take a walk and you'll find it's too narrow, Too narrow for the likes of me."

"Thrown into a dungeon, Bread and water was my portion, Faith - my only weapon, To rest the devil's legion. The speak-hole would slide open, A viper's voice would pleade, A voice think with innuendo, Syphillis and greed."

"The moon was turned toward me, Like a platter made of gold, My death, it almost bored me, So often was it told."

"In the days of madness, my brother, my sister, When you're dragged toward the Hell-mouth, You will beg for the end, but there ain't gonna be one, friend, For the grave will spew you out! It will spew you out!"

"One morn I awakened, a new sun was shining, The sky was a kingdom, all covered in blood. The moon and the stars, where the troops that lay conquered, Like food left to wither, poor spirital food."

"The spears of the bright sun, all brave with its conquest, Did hover unearthly, in banners of fire. I knelt in the garden, awash with the dawning, And a voice came so brightly, I covered my eyes."

"Let there be no sadness, no sorrow, Let there be no road too narrow, There'll be a new day, and it's today, For all of us."

"Hold me up baby, for I may fall, Hold my dish-rag body tall, Our bodies melt together, we are one, Post-crucifixion baby, post-crucifixion and all undone."

"Fingers down the throat of love! Love! Love!"

"The woods eats the woman and dumps her honey-body in the mud, Her dress floats down the well and it assumes the shape of the body of a little girl, Yeah, I recognize that girl, She stumbled in some time last loneliness, But I could not stand to touch her now, My one and only onlyness."

"I took her from rags right through to stitches, Oh baby, tonight we sleep in separate ditches."

"Another ship ready to dock... the rigging comes loose... like Jennifer's Veil."