april the 14th part i

Singer:gillian welch

when the iceberg hit

oh

they must have known

god moves on the water

like casey jones

so i walked downtown

on my telephone

and took a lazy turn

through the redeye zone

was a five-band bill

a two-dollar show

i saw the van out in front

from idaho

and the girl passed out

in the backseat trash

there were no way they'd make

even a half a tank of gas

they looked sick and stoned

and strangely dressed

no one showed

from the local press

but i watched them walk

through bottom land

and i wished i played

in a rock 'n' roll band

hey

hey

it was the fourteenth day of april

well

they closed it down

with the sales in rags

and i swept up the fags

and the local rags

i threw the plastic cups

in the plastic bags

and the cooks cleaned the kitchen

with the staggers and the jags

ruination day

and the sky was red

i went back to work

and back to bed

and the iceberg broke

and the okies fled

and the great emancipator

took a bullet in the back of the head

Lyric Context: april the 14th part i - gillian welch