Lyrics

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Blood in the Water

There’s blood in the water
Blood on my hands
My own daughter
Iies down where the river bends
My own father would baptize me in mud
There’s blood in the water and water in my blood
hayeeyay

Bury me where the water washed and set me free
Underneath the cottonwoods
I’ll return to the earth what it gave in birth
This world is not my home
I’m never coming back into the fold

My mama told me
That boy he aint no good
But when he’d hold me
I felt like I knew I should
But I know the Bible like the back of my hand
There’s blood in the water and it aint the blood of the lamb,
heyeeyay

Bury me where the water washed and set me free
Underneath the cottonwoods
I’ll return to the earth what it gave in birth
This world is not my home
I’m never coming back into the fold

It’s getting colder
But my heart is getting warm
I feel no older
Than the day I was born
Have some mercy below and above
There’s blood in the water and water in my lungs
Heyeeyay

Bury me where the water washed and set me free
Underneath the cottonwoods
I’ll return to the earth what it gave in birth
This world is not my home
I’m never coming back into the fold

I am not really sure where this song came from. I wrote it one night when I was completely exhausted from being on the road. A good friend and fellow songwriter, Mike Allen, had given me the title and we both were going to write the song and compare notes. What came out seemed almost like a past life or a channeled spirit—if you go in for such things—anyway, one of the most magical experiences I’ve had writing songs.