Lyrics

Hello, For all them city folk reckoning they listen to some kind of atheist I got this much to say: you ain't...but you know....life ain't always peachy,

Well come sinners, black as coal,
Taste salvation burn your soul—
Ivory teeth smile rot and rare,
Tempt the serpent if you dare.

Cypress knees rise sharp and thin,
Believers bowed by weight of sin;
Ole preacher chuckles bitter slow,
Truth drown silent far below.

Barn cat hiss 'fore preacher speak—
Warnin' spirits cold and bleak;
Hymnals drown in whiskey mire—
Faith run fevered, judgment dire.

Black crow watch the judgment-seat,
Mud prints red on sinners' feet;
Rust-tongued bells forgotten toll,
Swamp reclaimin' troubled souls.

Bottle tree hummin', dreams hung sore,
Paint-chipped chapel sinkin' more;
Flicker candle, shadow bent—
Whispers haunt revival tent.

Hear the truth what darkness preach:
"Heaven distant, perfection's reach
Broken-down wagons, lost hymn sound
Far too late once we been drowned."

Copper thunder rolling low—
Swallow this gospel deep and slow;
Jacob's ladder rotten rung,
Visions mold on silver tongue.

Water dips king, water lifts saint—
Black swamp water wash off paint—
Preacher winks, moon bleedin' red:
"Tonight, we baptize livin' dead."

Cypress witness shadows dance,
Souls barter second chance;
Written dark on bark you’ll see—
Nothin's free beneath these trees.

Slip beneath waters thick as lies—
Open up sinner, close yer eyes:
Hear that cypress whisper dread,
"Born again , livin dead,