| It was just a little while past the sunset strip
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| They found the girl’s body in an open pit
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| Her mouth was sewn shut, but her eyes were still wide
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| Gazin' through the fog to the other side
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| They booked me on a whim and threw me deep in jail
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| With no bail, sitting silent on a rusty pail
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| Just gazin' at the marks on the opposite wall
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| Rememberin' the music of my lover’s call, yeah
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| So you make no mistake
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| I know just what it takes
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| To pull a man’s soul back from heaven’s gates
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| I’ve been wanderin' in the dark about as long as sin
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| But they say it’s never too late to start again
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| Oh when, oh when
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| Will the spirit come a callin' for my soul to sin
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| Oh when, oh when
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| Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again
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| It was dark as the grave, it was just about three
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| When the warden with his key came to set me free
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| They gave me five dollars and a secondhand suit
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| A pistol and a hat and a worn out flute
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| So I took the bus down to the Rio Grande
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| And I shot a man down on the edge of town
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| Then I stole me a horse and I rode it around
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| Till the sheriff pulled me in and sat me down
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| He said, «you make no mistake
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| I know just what it takes
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| To pull a man’s soul back from heaven’s gates
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| I’ve been wanderin' in the dark about as long as sin
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| But they say it’s never too late to start again»
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| Oh when, oh when
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| Will the spirit come a callin' for my soul to sin
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| Oh when, oh when
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| Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again
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| Well the sheriff let me go with a knife and a song
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| So I took the first train up to Oregon
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| And I killed the first man that I came upon
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| 'Cause the devil works quickly, no it don’t take long
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| Then I went to the river for to take a swim
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| You know that black river water it’s as black as sin
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| And I washed myself clean as a newborn babe
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| Then I picked up a rock for to sharpen my blade
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| Oh when, oh when
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| Will the spirit come a callin' for my soul to sin
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| Oh when, oh when
|
| Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again
|
| Oh when, oh when
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| Will that black river water wash me clean again
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| Oh when, oh when
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| Will the keys to the kingdom be mine again |