Man of Dust

Salt of the sea
Salt of the sea
You call me
You call me away
To a land I forgot
To a land I have not
To the old
To forgotten ways

Birds in the sky
Birds in the sky
You call me
Call me away
To the place I have been
To the place I have sinned
To the old
To forgotten days

There’s a Willow
By the snake grass
And she sways
In the thin ocean breeze
She planted her roots
By the rocks by the sea
And I hope she’s still
Waiting for me

Stones on the ground
Stones on the ground
You call me
Call me once more
Back down to the Earth
To the place of my birth
When I ask
You won’t tell me what for

Ship by the cay
Ship by the cay
You’re calling
You’re calling me home
To a place I ain’t known
To the place you will show me
To the place
Where my hopes have all grown

There’s a Willow
By the snake grass
And she sways
In the thin ocean breeze
She planted her roots
By the rocks by the sea
And I hope she’s still
Waiting for me…
For me

If My roots were in a river
And I was a tree
Scatter seeds to the winds
And you would be with me
With the roaring of the waterfalls
So endlessly and free
That’s the end of our story
What a day

There’s a road leading out
From that old dusty town
Them boys tied me up
Like a dead man laid me down
I made it out alive
A choking on the ground
That’s the end of my story
What a day

"Well you are a dead man"
Was what she said to me
If you choose to go forward
And if you choose to flee
But you will find healing
If you come to me
That’s the end of your story
What a day

Whiskey Jones was his name
Not one clue to be found
He saw his kid brother
In the river where he’s drown
He sought out the killer
But that bastard shot him down
That’s the end of his story
What a day

Magnanomous forgivness
Is found beneath the earth
For there all is forgotten
The great long sleep gives birth
Forever sunk back in her womb
Our mother’s might girth
That’s the end of Her story
What a day

But if you came to sing my praise
On just one little day
I’d become a might king, I think
In my own greatest way
I’d forget all of my troubles
And I’d throw my doubts away
That’s the end of our story
What a day

Somewhere by the river
Called the Mississippi
He hung his head and cried
They tied his hands
And stretched his neck
Long before his time to die
A poor boy of the broken hills
Lost out in the cold
But somewhere by the Mississippi
A young boy grew old

Somewhere on
A cold, foggy mountain
A man was shot in the chest
It’s said in the taverns
And houses of the night
That one who fell was of the very best
But whoever emptied that fateful chamber?
Would he fade from the light into grey?
Somewhere by the Mississippi
A young by was hung that day

But there ain’t no use
Running from the cold
When Heaven shuts its ears to you
And when God closes
His almighty hand
There Ain’t nothin’, nothin’ you can do

They say his mother
Laid flowers down
At his miserly paupers’ grave
But his body was buried
In the air
Miles and miles away
A poor boy of the broken hills
Seems he grasps a crow in each hand
His bones still flying through the sky
Like a warning in the wind they stand

But there ain’t no use
Running from the cold
When Heaven shuts its ears to you
And when God closes
His almighty hand
There Ain’t nothin’, nothin’ you can do

There was a time for her to stay
Ribbons in her hair
The sun arose with morning ray
Ribbons in her hair
Tell me about the way she’d lay
Tell about a brighter day
There was a time for her to stay
Ribbons in her hair

There was a time she learned to cry
Tears were in her eyes
There was a time she learned to dry them
Tears were in her eyes
Tell me that she had tried
Tell me that her hope had died
There was a time she learned to cry
Tears were in her eyes

There was a time she’d learn to dance
Red shoes upon her feet
There was that time it wasn’t chance
Red shoes upon her feet
They’d stare an hour when they’d glance
Tell me that she was entranced
There was a time she’d learn to dance
Red shoes upon her feet

There was a time when he came back
A ring upon her hand
Tattered coat an empty sack
A ring upon her hand
Tell of the things he’d lack
Tell me that his mind was cracked
There was a time when he came back
A ring upon her hand

Loraine, Loraine
In your hometown
In Michigan you’ll find
I am a traveller 
The dark unraveled
Of a puppet’s mind
Loraine, Loraine
I am the type
To run when things get cold
The story’s told 
I am much older
I’ve left the holy fold

Loraine, Loraine
I met you seems
So short a time ago
You taught me things
And gave me wings
To fly amidst the snow
Loraine, Loraine
You shot an arrow
Straight through my heart
You broke my flight
Blood in my sight
I fled through the dark

But if you knew what’s true to me
My hopes and what’s due to me
You’d let me go
And let me show
The world what I had left
And you took what what was dear to me
My pride and my sanctity
Loraine, Loraine
In your hometown
Go find another love

Loraine, Loraine
The dwelling where you lived
Was quite a place
My heart grew there
And learned to stare
Upon your fading face
Loraine, Loraine
It fades even now from my mind
So go away to another day
So happiness can be mine

But if you knew what’s true to me
My hopes and what’s due to me
You’d let me go
And let me show
The world what I had left
And you took what what was dear to me
My pride and my sanctity
Loraine, Loraine
In your hometown
Go find another love

Once I was a sailor
I lived a wicked life
I’d give it all up
For a home and a wife
‘Cause the man of the oar
Lives his life by decree
And I’ll roll on down the river
To the sea

There’s a bottle on my shelf
The bottle it is full
There's a longing in my throat
And a pounding in my skull
Last time I touched a glass
You know, I drained it all empty
‘Guess I’ll roll on down the river
To the sea

I’m a head-case
And I come from a family of such
But I’m from the opinion
That that don’t matter much
And I wish I could be anyone
‘cept the person that you see
And I’ll roll on down the river
To the sea

I courted a lady
Before my life was old
Was it her or was it me
‘Left my heart to grow cold?
‘Cause love it is the branches
But friendship is the tree
So I’ll roll on from the river
To the sea

There’s a book on the table
And some thoughts in my head
For a few cents and a pistol
My story would be read
Cause livin’ ain’t worth it
But some others disagree
And I’ll roll on down the river
To that mighty old sea
I’ll roll on from the river
To the sea

He was just a train
He was just a fire
He was just the message sparking
On the telephone wire
Just the tree along a river
Roots into a rock
Busted time, hands at 12
Time stuck on the clock

She was just forgotten
She was just alone
She was drowned out in the sea
And soaked down to the bone
An apple falling from a tree
And rotting on the ground
Sorry drunk inside the room
To pass the bottle round

Wherever I wander
Wherever I roam
Go take my deepest wish
And place it in a tomb
Just like that old train steam stack
Climbin’ to the sky
Down in the valley place me
Where I’ll never wonder why

They struck out together
And they struck it out fast
Let out for the glory
Never planned to make it last
Livin’ for tomorrow
Ain’t the easy way they say
There’s black and white; a drawn chalk line
And then there’s shades of grey

Wherever I wander
Wherever I roam
Go take my deepest wish
And place it in a tomb
Just like that old train steam stack
Climbin’ to the sky
Down in the valley place me
Where I’ll never wonder why

The moon will soon unravel
The earth will turn to dust
The bullets they lost to the wind
Will crumple down to rust
And when they lie deep under ground
Or sink beneath the sea
They’ll be somewhere; you may not care
But they were dear to me

Gather ‘round my friends
And I’ll tell to you the tale
Of the freight train Sister Marry
And her last ride on the rails
Her stack it blew
At least a hundred feet into the sky
Boiling heat
Unceasing beat
Then with a scream she dies

She let out from Detroit
Bound straight for Omaha
Left behind the scent of boilers
And the dreams of Saginaw
A trace of iron sifting
Somewhere high into the air
Oh taste the dreams
As it could seem
And feel it if you dare

Like a bee blown in the wind
Lost from friends and from its queen
The Sister Mary served
At every chance and every dream
She found herself out west
With all the hopeless and the lost
The tents and pans
Gold in their hands
Just water, death, and cost

Now you ask yourself
What became of this great train
Did she slide off some great cliff
Or was she swallowed in the rain?
Well she kept servin' all
From Washington to Californ'
And when laid to rest
Her iron chest
Had never made it home