Look out, Mama, there's a white boat comin' up the river

With a big red beacon, and a flag, and a man on the rail

I think you'd better call John, 'cause it don't

look like they're here to deliver the mail

And it's less than a mile away

I hope they didn't come to stay

It's got numbers on the side and a gun

and it's makin' big waves.



Daddy's gone, my brother's out

hunting in the mountains

Big John's been drinking since the river took Emmy-Lou

Seems the Powers That Be left me here to do the thinkin'

And I just turned twenty two

I was wonderin' what to do

And the closer they got,

The more those feelin's grew.







Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassurin'

He told me, "Red means run, son,

and numbers add up to nothin'"

When the first shot hit the docks I saw it comin'

Raised my rifle to my eye

Never stopped to wonder why.

Then I saw black, and my face splashed in the sky.



Shelter me from the powder and the finger

Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger

Think of me as one you'd never figured

Would fade away so young

With so much left undone

Remember me to my love, I know I'll miss her.