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Appalachian Nightmare
Justin Townes Earle
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Lyrics
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I was born in Cincinnati
My daddy worked on the river
The work dried up around that time
He took us down to West Virginia
Took a job in the city
Now where they load the coal on the boats
Found a little place not too far away
My mama made it a home
Now my trouble started early
I was stealing and gettin' in fights
Smoking and drinking by age thirteen
Skipping class and getting high
When I quit school at fifteen
My daddy put me out
My mama cries as I walk away
Never heard such a lonesome sound
So I went to staying with my best friend's brother
Made his living cooking speed
Said a man can always get by
When they cut it up nice and clean
So I stuck around for a couple years
'Til he was busted in '89
I was eighteen years old, out on my own
Out to get what I saw as mine
By '92 I was twenty-one
I was back out on the street
Done two whole years of county time
And I was charged with manufacturing
Well I was aware there'd come a new thing
It took like a wildfire to the hills
Speed was no longer king
Now everybody was wantin' pills
Now you might say that I'm just the type
Seeks his honey at the source
So me and this cat that I met in county
Well we started robbin' drugstores
We went all over West Virginia
So never worked at home
Sometimes southern Pennsylvania
East Kentucky, Ohio
We had a good thing goin'
And had some money saved up
I wasn't wantin' for nothin'
I had me a brand new pickup truck
But Lord, we was reckless
We was high as a Tennessee pine
And you gotta know a junkie's gonna let you down
It's only a matter of time
When time come it was midnight
It was two weeks ago in Morgantown
We was knocking off a little local
Just when the clock run out
We were all packed up
Turned out to be a score
Car's waitin' back in the alley
We was walking out the door
Well my partner takes two steps outside
He stops and he hollers, "Police!"
A voice that I didn't recognize
Said, "Son don't you so much as breathe"
So I come out over my partner's shoulder
And I squeezed off a couple shots
First time I ever pointed a gun at a man
And I done killed a cop
Now it's a fact that you can't get a bullet back
Once you done pulled the trigger
And there's no chance in hell
They'll ever stop lookin' for a cop-killer
So we hurried back to Charleston
I grabbed nothin' but money and clothes
And as the workin' people was wakin'
We was out through Ohio, baby
Now looking back, I knew that all along
Knew we never had a chance
I know it makes no difference now
That I never meant to kill that man
But now held up in this motel in Canton
Surrounded by police
I know there's no way I'm gettin' out
At least no way I'm going free
So I'm twenty-four years old
I been in trouble most of my days
But I must say that I never thought
It was gonna end this way
Now the last time I talked to my mama
Lord it's been a while
I was nineteen, I only remember
'Cause it was just after daddy died
Now of all of my regrets
There's two that trouble me the most
I wish I could've been better to my mama
Wish I'd never took a shot of dope
So Lord, if you're listening
Ain't never asked much of you
And I already know I ain't going to heaven
But if what they say is true
Then you'll forgive me
For what I'm 'bout to do
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