Lyrics When I Was Drunk - Richard Thompson

When I Was Drunk

When I was drunk I killed a man
What did he do to me?
And now his ghost will follow me
Through all eternity
I’ll never touch another drop
It shook me to the core
When I was drunk I killed a man
And now I’ll drink no more
No more
No more
And now I’ll drink no more
O drink was all my pleasure, friends
O drink was my delight
A glass would help to numb the cold
And put the world aright
There’s company in a glass or two
Or even three or four
When I was drunk I killed a man
And now I’ll drink no more
One Friday night in the Compasses
I was eight pints gone at least
The anger rose inside of me
And then out came the beast
A redbeard spilled my drink, I said
You’re really not to blame
You can’t help being a clumsy sod
But I hit him just the same
The bugger takes a knife to me
He cut me on the wrist
I grabbed the knife but then my nose
Connected with his fist
I hit him with something heavy
And he lay still on the floor
When I was drunk I killed a man
But now I’ll drink no more
They buried him down in Clerkenwell
In a sorry pauper’s grave
The priest he spoke of ashes and dust
And pilgrims being saved
He said there would be peace at last
Upon a distant shore
When I was drunk I killed a man
But now I’ll drink no more