[Intro – Klopfen auf Holz und Stein, langsam] [Knock… knock… knock… (Holz)] [Tap… tap… (Stein)] [Leises, trauriges Pfeifen – eine einsame Melodie, die in der Grube hallt] [Verse 1 – gesungen, brüchig, kehlig] Down in the dark where the cold earth bites [knock… knock…] A three-legged dog counts the fading light [tap… tap…] Fell through the brambles, never saw the drop [knock…] Now the walls are too steep and the climbing’s stopped [Stille, nur ein Atemzug] [Pre-Chorus – leise, fast gesprochen] So I lift my graying muzzle high… [Pfeifen, drei traurige Töne] …and sing my life to the empty sky [Chorus – Stimme allein, langsam, jede Zeile hallt nach] Oh, I was born to a mother with a golden coat [tap… tap… tap… (Stein)] She gave me the road and a wanderer’s throat [knock… knock… (Holz)] A drunk in a truck took my left hind leg [Stille… langer Pfiff, fallend] But I crawled from the ditch, I never had to beg [tap… tap…] I loved Lady Sue with her one floppy ear [knock… knock… knock…] We had eight little pups, and I held them near [tap…] Now I’m singing my story down a hole so deep [Pfeifen, zitternd] Lord, if I go, let the coyotes weep [knock… knock… knock… tap… Stille] [Verse 2 – sehr leise, stockend] I remember the milk-warm days [tap… tap…] Nestled in a barn, before the haze [knock…] My mama said, Boy, the world’s hard and wide [tap… tap…] But you got a heart that don’t know how to hide [Pfeifen, eine Tonfolge, die nach oben fragt und abbricht] [Pre-Chorus] Then one rainy night, headlights swerved and screamed… [Klopfen schneller, unregelmäßig – panisch] …woke up bleeding, short a leg and a dream [Stille, nur ein leiser Pfiff, der verhallt] [Chorus – noch langsamer, Stimme brüchig] Oh, I was born to a mother with a golden coat [tap… tap…] She gave me the road and a wanderer’s throat [knock…] A drunk in a truck took my left hind leg [tap…] But I crawled from the ditch, I never had to beg [Pfeifen, leise und lang] I loved Lady Sue with her one floppy ear [knock… knock…] We had eight little pups, and I held them near [tap… tap… tap…] Now I’m singing my story down a hole so deep [Pfeifen – eine fallende Linie, wie ein Seufzer] Lord, if I go, let the coyotes weep [knock… knock… knock… tap…] [Bridge – nur Stimme und langsames Klopfen auf Stein, monoton] [Tap… tap… tap… tap…] Lady Sue found me by the junkyard fence [tap… tap…] She licked my wounds and I’ve loved her since [tap… tap…] Eight wild pups, all with her mismatched eyes [tap…] We roamed the backroads under painted skies [Stille] I taught them to run on four legs and three [tap… tap… tap…] And they’d look at their daddy like a king to be [Pfeifen, ein einziges hohes, langes C, das verklingt] [Verse 3 – sehr leise, fast ein Flüstern] Now the hole is my cathedral [knock… (Holz)] The dirt my pew [knock…] And every verse I sing is true [tap… tap…] Maybe someone will hear the sound [tap… tap… tap…] And pull a three-legged sinner from the ground [Pfeifen – hoffnungsvoll, dann in sich zusammenfallend] [Outro – nur Pfeifen und Klopfen, langsamer werdend] [Knock… knock… … knock… … … knock… Tap… … … tap…] [Leises Pfeifen, die Melodie vom Anfang, bricht ab] [Ein letzter Atemzug] [Stille]
