[Verse 1] Down in the dark where the cold earth bites A three-legged dog counts the fading light He fell through the brambles, never saw the drop Now the walls are too steep and the climbing’s stopped And Bill the Stray lifts his graying muzzle high And sings his life to the empty sky [Chorus] Oh, I was born to a mother with a golden coat She gave me the road and a wanderer’s throat A drunk in a truck took my left hind leg But I crawled from the ditch, I never had to beg I loved Lady Sue with her one floppy ear We had eight little pups, and I held them near Now I’m singing my story down a hole so deep Lord, if I go, let the coyotes weep [Verse 2] He remembers the milk-warm days Nestled in a barn, before the highways and the haze His mama said, “Boy, the world’s hard and wide But you got a heart that don’t know how to hide” Then one rainy night, headlights swerved and screamed He woke up bleeding, short a leg and a dream [Chorus] Oh, I was born to a mother with a golden coat She gave me the road and a wanderer’s throat A drunk in a truck took my left hind leg But I crawled from the ditch, I never had to beg I loved Lady Sue with her one floppy ear We had eight little pups, and I held them near Now I’m singing my story down a hole so deep Lord, if I go, let the coyotes weep [Bridge] Lady Sue, she found me by the junkyard fence She licked my wounds and I’ve loved her since Eight wild pups, all with her mismatched eyes We roamed the backroads under painted skies I taught them to run on four legs and three And they’d look at their daddy like a king to be [Verse 3] Now the hole is my cathedral, the dirt my pew And every verse I sing is true He howls to the moon he can’t see above A song of loss, and a song of love Maybe someone will hear the sound And pull a three-legged sinner from the ground [Chorus – softer, echoing] Oh, I was born to a mother with a golden coat She gave me the road and a wanderer’s throat A drunk in a truck took my left hind leg But I crawled from the ditch, I never had to beg I loved Lady Sue with her one floppy ear We had eight little pups, and I held them near Now I’m singing my story down a hole so deep Lord, if I go, let the coyotes weep [Outro – spoken-sung over distant harmonica] His voice grows thin, the night gets cold But Bill the Stray keeps singing, brave and bold Three legs, one heart, a lifetime’s tune Waiting for rescue beneath the moon…
