Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer lyrics

It was just a little while
Past the sunset strip
They found the girl's body in an open pit
Her mouth was sewn shut
But her eyes were still wide
Gazin' through the fog to the other side

They booked me on a whim and
Threw me deep in jail
With no bail, sitting silent on a rusty pail
Just gazin' at the marks on the opposite wall
Rememberin' the music of my lover's call
Yeah

So you make no mistake
I know just what it takes
To pull a man's soul back from heaven's gates
I've been wanderin' in the dark
About as long as sin
But they say it's never too
Late to start again

Oh when, oh when
Will the spirit come a callin'
For my soul to sin oh when, oh when
Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again

It was dark as the grave
It was just about three
When the warden with his key
Came to set me free
They gave me five dollars
And a secondhand suit
A pistol and a hat and a worn out flute

So I took the bus down to the Rio Grande
And I shot a man down on the edge of town
Then I stole me a horse and I rode it around
Till the sheriff pulled me in and sat me down

He said, "You make no mistake
I know just what it takes
To pull a man's soul back from heaven's gates
I've been wanderin' in the dark
About as long as sin
But they say it's never too
Late to start again"

Oh when, oh when
Will the spirit come a callin'
For my soul to sin oh when, oh when
Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again

Well the sheriff let me go with
A knife and a song
So I took the first train up to Oregon
And I killed the first man that I came upon
'Cause the devil works quickly
No it don't take long

Then I went to the river for to take a swim
You know that black river water
It's as black as sin
And I washed myself clean as a newborn babe
Then I picked up a rock
For to sharpen my blade

Oh when, oh when
Will the spirit come a callin'
For my soul to sin oh when, oh when
Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again

Oh when, oh when will that black river water
Wash me clean again oh when, oh when
Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again