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Death Came for the Hangman

from The Nickle Ride by Bill White

/

lyrics

Death came for the hangman
On the night I was to hang
Im looking down on the Rio Grando
With the Riders on the rain

To the charges set against me
The judge asked for my plea
Are you guilty or not guilty
I answered You know that better than me

Death came for the hangman
On the night I was to hang
He rode on 16 hoofbeats
Like a Rider on the rain

A dog barked in the prison yard
He was only skin and bone
He looked up at my window
Like he was searching for Saint Joan
As the sun sets over Memphis
A priest comes to my side
Asks me for my last request
I say Get me some cyanide

The priest he started laughing
Then he looked at me and sighed
Sorry but I cant do that
But heres the cross upon which our savior died
You can hold it in your fist
When the rope is on your throat
And you are reading the letter that your father wrote

Death came for the hangman
On the night I was to hang
Now Im over the Rio Grando
Riding high above the rain

Death he kept on riding
The hangman was riding too
I crossed the Rio Grando
To get one last word with you
Don’t eat the fruit that’s falling
From the huckleberry sky
Don’t go near the water
When the ship of fools goes by
Don’t go to the station
When you hear the whistling train
Its just four strong winds escaping
From the fires on the plain

I can tell you just as sure as sin
In a voice as true as pain
Since I walked away from the gallows pole
Ive been riding on the rain
Now I see three ships a sailing
On a cold and ragged sea
Death came for the hangman
On the night he came for me

credits

from The Nickle Ride, released December 16, 2017

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Bill White Lima, Peru

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