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The Big Sleep Lyrics
At the end of the road he calls everyone home
And the fire will consume us, striking through to the bone
At the end of the road you will soon hear him call
As the congregations crumble and the chapels will fall
And the taste on your tongue, well it comes, yeah it comes
With the bittersweet pang of remorse and pain
Until the judgement is made, the prosecutions won
The gavel has fallen and justice is done
The courtroom clears, I'm left alone on the bench
My wife and children gone, along with the defense
The bailiff leads me back to my cell
Like the riverman ferrying me to hell
I can't blame them, no, to hate me for what I've done
I hear them whispering in the hall
You'll live and die by the gun
All I can do is sit here and pray
I'll be forgiven on Judgement Day
Tell my wife in our yard buried underneath the pine
There's a shoebox full of money
Of which I've never earned a dime
Use it to start over the way things should have been
Live honest and love again
Tell my wife, tell my kids I never meant for this to happen
When they flip the switch, please do not stay
I couldn't bear for you to remember me this way
And the fire will consume us, striking through to the bone
At the end of the road you will soon hear him call
As the congregations crumble and the chapels will fall
With the bittersweet pang of remorse and pain
Until the judgement is made, the prosecutions won
The gavel has fallen and justice is done
My wife and children gone, along with the defense
The bailiff leads me back to my cell
Like the riverman ferrying me to hell
I hear them whispering in the hall
You'll live and die by the gun
All I can do is sit here and pray
I'll be forgiven on Judgement Day
There's a shoebox full of money
Of which I've never earned a dime
Use it to start over the way things should have been
Live honest and love again
I couldn't bear for you to remember me this way
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no comments? I am no good with comments though wonderful song. one of their best, in which case is many.
this song is just freaking amazing, much like the band. it's gotta be about a guy who's luck ran out and since he's been sentenced to death, it's like his final thoughts for his family and stuff....truly haunting stuff, but truly amazing stuff
I love the "I never meant for this to happen" then the trumpet solo, followed by only feedback and his final lines. Great song. Otis is dead on.
when you hear this live its bone chillingly amazing GREAT live show
Ive seen MBD like 15 times and only heard this TWICE. They dont seem to play it often. Or I have terrible timing.
Ive seen MBD like 15 times and only heard this TWICE. They dont seem to play it often. Or I have terrible timing.
I just saw them in concert last night. He said they hadn't done this song on their tour yet, because it was so depressing but someone in the audience had specifically requested it so they did it any way. i loved it. they are an amazing band.
amazing. enough said
LOVE this song.
My friend and I agree that the trumphet part is his final march to the electric chair and the feedback is the sound of the electric chair starting up.
"At the end of the road he calls everyone home, and the fire will consume us. . ." -This is definatley biblical, talking about judgement day. The whole song is very narrative so it's pretty easy to understand. The only thing I really have to say, or add is I think Adam got the idea for the- ". . .in our yard buried underneath the pine, is a shoebox full of money, of which I've never earned a dime." line from the film The Shawshank Redemption, in which the lead character Andy tells his friend to dig up a box from under a tree, in which among other things is money. I don't know, just thinkin'. . .
This is the song that introduced me to MBD. It was on a compilation album for the "Masters of Horror" soundtrack. They included an alternate (earlier?) version of this song called "End of the Road". I loved it and decided to look them up one day. As luck would have it the were playing about 90 miles from me the very next weekend and I went and saw them. Cool show they played all the songs from Who Will Survive and In Bocca.... straight through!
The album: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Horror_(soundtrack)