Repeat: The Ballad of the Stone

That stone

That damnable stone

I put it up

carved the words with a pistol barrel

took some time

that did

Give me drink

strong drink

I'm a weak man

She wasn't

the baby's mother

She was strong

Held that baby

as it died in her arms

that there mister

is the weight of the world

Thank you thank you

I needed that drink

I need it cause drinking

stops me from thinking

of her tiny fever cry

and fever eyes wound shut

and bright red fever cheeks

oh god she did stink of it

Maybe she shouldn't have been born

the babe of a weak man

and a strong woman

in god's nowhere

maybe not

But I loved her mother

and contrarily she loved me

she's now buried yonder

down row three

God I wish I had never loved

Good God I wish it would have never ended
Now too weak for heaven

bound for hell

Give me the rest of the bottle

you've had your fill

of me

and I'm empty

still