I know what it means to get knocked down drunk,
I was lying in a bush by the coal,
where the river runs deep
& the demons don't sleep
& the water's obscured by the smoke.
Well I drug myself to the river's edge
& I drank like a dog on the sand.
It burned my tongue,
my whole head gets spun
& I stood on the stone
& I spoke to the wind and the rain.
Said I know what it means to get left for dead,
when the saints rise up at the sound.
When the spirits don't move in
their chains and the shoes
and the crack of the guns all around.
I know how it is to get all dressed up,
where nobody would know where to go.
With a fifth in your vest,
and some pills on your tongue
and a gun looking out across
the Valley of the Shadow below, oh.
Well I preached to the bums
and I preached to the birds
til the crowd had started to form.
My disciples that came,
through the wind and the rain
and the rags in their jackets all torn.
Well I prophesized of the things to come
and I jumped like a bug on a wall,
til my head it was through
with the river's strange brew
and I sunk to my knees, in the breeze,
and I started to pray,
I said hey!
You know I ain't got a dang thing to say,
with a head full of booze and nothing to loose
for a creature was made out of clay, hey!
Said I know what it means to get left for dead,
when the saints rise up at the sound.
When the spirits don't move in
their chains and the shoes
and the crack of the guns all around.
I know how it is to get all dressed up,
where nobody would know where to go.
With a fifth in your vest,
and some pills on your tongue
and a gun looking out across
the Valley of the Shadow below, oh.