Red-Eyed Pilgrim

[INTRO] (low acoustic strumming) (wind through canyon rock) (spurs rattling softly) (distant choir hum) Mama said: Don’t follow men with red eyes They’ve already seen something They can’t come back from [VERSE 1] He came walking down the salt road slow Dust on his boots like fresh fallen snow Long black coat and a weathered grin Like the devil taught him how to fit in Every dog in town started barking at once Every church bell rang half a second wrong And the girls at the diner stopped pouring drinks Just to watch him pass without a blink [REFRAIN] Oh red-eyed pilgrim What did you see? Out beyond the canyon where the dead trees lean Oh red-eyed pilgrim Who do you pray to now? With heaven in your bloodstream and hell beneath your brow (tremolo guitar rises) [VERSE 2] He slept three nights by the railroad tracks Talking in tongues through asthma attacks Said he’d crossed the glass fields way out west Where the moon hangs low like a hole in your chest Said the stars out there don’t stay in place Said the desert learned how to wear a face Said every man gets called one day By something enormous beneath the clay (snare march enters) [VERSE 3] Now the sheriff tried to run him out But his hands shook hard when the lights went out And the preacher swore during Sunday prayer He saw red eyes glowing in the congregation there Then the children started having dreams About black rivers and burning wings And waking up with dirt beneath their nails Like they’d been digging graves in their sleep again [REFRAIN] Oh red-eyed pilgrim Tall and thin Like a graveyard nailed together with rusted pins Oh red-eyed pilgrim Why’d you come this way? Just to leave us haunted when the sun goes gray? (harmonica and surf guitar duel) [BRIDGE] (spoken over tribal drums) Some folks say he was poisoned Some say blessed Some say the desert burned the color from his soul Till all that stayed behind Was warning lights (frantic guitars begin spiraling) [BREAKDOWN] Mothers locking windows tight Truckers crossing themselves at night Teenage runaways following railroad sparks Straight into the open mouth of the dark (call and response) WHAT’S OUT THERE? Nobody knows! WHAT’S HE RUNNING FROM? Nobody knows! WHY’S HE SMILING? Nobody knows! [FINAL REFRAIN] Oh red-eyed pilgrim Still out there Walking through the midnight static and electric air Oh red-eyed pilgrim If you pass this way Leave our dreams alone And keep the badlands paid [OUTRO] (clean guitar fade) (cold wind) (single church bell) And years later Folks still swear You can see those red eyes Moving between the mesas Right before a storm