Billy Bragg, Wilco - The Unwelcome Guest lyrics

To the rich man's bright lodges
I ride in this wind on my good horse
I call you my shiny black Bess
To the playhouse of fortune to
Take the bright silver
And gold you have taken from somebody else

And as we go riding in
The damp foggy midnight
You snort, my good pony
And you give me your best
For you know and I know good
Horse 'mongst the rich ones
How oft times we go there, an unwelcome guest

I never took food from the widows and orphans
And never a hardworking man I oppressed
So take your pace easy, for home
Soon like lightning
We soon will be riding my shiny black Bess

No fat rich man's pony can ever overtake you
And there's not a rider from
The east to the west
Could hold you alight in this
Dark mist and midnight
When the potbellied thieves chase
The unwelcome guest

I don't know, good horse
As we trot in this dark here
That robbing the rich is for
Worse or for best they take it by stealing
And lying and gambling
And I take it my way, my shiny black Bess

I treat horses good and
I'm friendly to strangers
I ride and your running makes
My guns talk the best
And the rangers and deputies are
Hired by the rich man
To catch me and hang me
My shining black Bess

Yes, they'll catch me napping one
Day and they'll kill me
And then I'll be gone
But that won't be my end
For my guns and my saddle
Will always be filled
By unwelcome travelers and other brave men

And they'll take the money and
Spread it out equal
Just like the Bible and the prophets suggest
But men that go riding to
Help these poor workers
The rich will cut down
Like an unwelcome guest