Well the night was deep and the night was dark

And I was at the old dance-hall on the edge of town

Some big ceremony was going down

Dancers writhed and squirmed and then,

Came apart and then writhed again

Like squirming flies on a pin

In the heat and in the din

Yes, in the heat and in the din

I fell to thinking about brand new wife of mad John Finn



Well, midnite came and clock did strike

And in she came, did John Finn's wife

With legs like scissors and butcher's knives

A tattooed breast and flaming eyes

And a crimson carnation in her teeth

Carving her way through the dance floor

And I'm standing over by the bandstand

Every eye gaping on John Finn's wife

Yeah, every eye gaping on John Finn's wife



Now John Finn's wife was something of a mystery

In a town where to share a sworn secret was a solemn duty

I had brass knuckles and a bolo knife

Over near the bandstand with John Finn's wife

She got perfumed breasts and raven hair

Sprinkled with wedding confettis

And a gang of garrotters were all giving me stares

Armed, as they were, with machetes

And the night through the window was full of lights

Winking and awatching at John Finns' wife

Winking and awatching at John Finns' wife



Next came the cops, all out on the town

But it don't look like no trouble there

As they head for the bar in their lumpy suits

And I slip my hand between the thighs of John Finn's wife

And they seemed to yawn awake, her things

It was a warm and very ferocious night

The moon full of blood and light

And my eyes grew small and my eyes grew tight

As I plotted in the ear of John Finns' wife



Enter John Finn in his shrunken suit

With his quick black eyes and black cheroot

With his filled-down teeth and a hobnail boot

And his fists full of pistols in his pockets

Aiming at me and aiming at his wife

The band fall silent fearing for their lives

And with fear in my guts like tangled twine

Cause all I got is brass knuckles and a bolo knife

And mad John Finns' wife is all

And the three of us walk out of the hall



Now the night bore down upon us all

You could hear the crickets in the thickets call

And guns did flare and guns did bawl

And I planted my bolo knife in the neck

Of mad John Finn. I took his wretched life

Now I'm over near the bandstand

Every hand moving on John Finns' wife

Every hand moving on John Finns' wife



And John Finns' wife

Took all the flowers down

From her hair

And threw them on the ground

And the flies did hum

And the flies did buzz around

Poor John Finn

Lying dead upon the ground

Lying dead upon the ground


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