[Verse 1] I was born where the rigs cut into the sky Where the mud runs thick and the steel runs high Mama lit candles while the diesel fumes rolled Said, "Boy, that black river gonna swallow your soul" Every dawn I’m chasing that roughneck pay With my name on a Bible and my boots in the clay When the drill starts singing like a ghost in the well You can smell that money, you can taste that hell [Chorus] I’m a wildcatter praying in the firelight Chasing crude in the belly of the night Every boom, every shake, feels like judgment day If the pipe blows out, Lord, take my breath away Got one hand on the rig, one hand on the Lord Digging up the devil while I’m begging for my reward [Verse 2] We've seen men vanish in a spark and a roar Their names left hanging on the dry shack door They drink some courage from a rusted steel flask Laugh too loud so we don’t dare ask While the ground keeps trembling under worn-out feet Why the wind smells heavy like a funeral sheet There’s a hymn in the hum of that turning crown You either cash your check or you don’t come down [Chorus] I’m a wildcatter praying in the firelight Chasing crude in the belly of the night Every boom, every shake, feels like judgment day If the pipe blows out, Lord, take my breath away Got one hand on the rig, one hand on the Lord Digging up the devil while I’m begging for my reward [Guitar Solo] [Bridge] When the siren screams, I hear a choir call Angels in hard hats standing by the wall If I slip down the casing, where the sunlight fails Will You find me, Lord, at the bottom of the shale? Oh, mercy, mercy, meet me in the dark Where the torches burn and the sky throws sparks [Chorus] I’m a wildcatter praying in the firelight Chasing crude in the belly of the night Every boom, every shake, feels like judgment day If the pipe blows out, Lord, take my breath away Got one hand on the rig, one hand on the Lord Digging up the devil while I’m begging for my reward [Outro] When the last well dries and the floodlights fade Lay me down where the derricks once were made Let his soul rise up from the busted ground To a place where the oil stops pulling him down
