Frank Stanford - The Singing Knives lyrics

The dogs woke me up I looked out the window Jimmy ran down the road With the knife in his mouth He was naked And the moon Was a dead man floating down the river He jumped on the gypsy's pony He rode through camp I could see the dust There was the saddlebag full of knives He was crazy When Jimmy cut a throat The eyes rolled back in the head Like they was baptized I tell you When he cut a throat It was like Abednego's guitar And the blood Flew out like quail He had the red hand He poked the eyes out I dreamed I stepped over a fog And there was fire in my foot I dreamed I saw a turkey and two wildcats Jumped on me at the same time I dreamed Jimmy was pouring ice water Over my head at noon I dreamed I heard somebody Singing in the outhouse I dreamed the mad dog bit the gypsy And they tied him to a tree I dreamed I was buried in the Indian mound And Moon Lake rose up I dreamed my father was wading the river of d**h With his heart in his hand I dreamed Jimmy rowed out the front door With a hawk on his shoulder And I was in the bow kneeling down I dreamed the blacksnake rode the guitar Down the river I dreamed the clouds went by The moon like dead fish I dreamed I was dragging A cotton sack with a dead man in it I dreamed the fish bandits stole the hogs Off my lines And one of them was a hunchback I dreamed the night was a horse With its eyes shut I dreamed I had to fight the good man with the bad arm And he had the dynamite I dreamed I trailed a buck from Panther Brake to Panther Burn I dreamed the Chickasaw slit his throat in the pawpaw I dreamed that rising sun was smoking blood You could pick up and throw I dreamed the Chinaman's peg leg I dreamed I was fishing in heaven with Sho Nuff And Jesus cleaned the fish I dreamed a man flies wouldn't bite I dreamed I was riding through Leland in a dragline bucket And the cotton making everyday I dreamed we got the bootlegger's truck out of the mud I dreamed the levee broke I dreamed the gypsy was laughing under the water And the minnows were swimming through his eyes I dreamed I reached down in Moon Lake And untied his arms and one hand Floated up the way it did When he threw those knives I dreamed the pony that fights in the water And the boat that towed the dead man I dreamed I felt the knife singing in Abednego's back I dreamed I pulled the ring out of his ear And Jimmy put it on his finger And swam through the water I dreamed he was looking for Abednego's boot And when he came up He had the jackknife between his teeth I dreamed he was so beautiful He had to die someday I dreamed a knife like a song you can't whistle "Let's go, I got to throw tonight" he says He had the bandanna around his neck And the pilot's cap on He played the harp in the moonlight I led the horse out back I tied him to the chinaberry tree "What you want" I says But I knew he wanted me Standing at the back of that outhouse "Shut up" he says "don't move" The dirt daubers flew around my head He threw Boo Kay Jack at me He threw Django at me The mosquitoes drew blood I looked on the ground I saw the shadows coming like gars Swimming under me at night I saw the red moon too I wished I was running a trot line I wished I was in a fight I wished I was fanning myself in church But there was a heart on the fan With a switchblade through it And the knives came by The bone handled one The hawk handled one The one with a blade like a skiff Out of his boot Behind his back Mexican style The way Abednego showed him Singing in the outhouse Like a horse breaking wind He took the knife and ran it Across his arms Then he ran it across mine Blood came out like hot soda He tied our arms together With the blue bandanna And we laid down in the cotton I wished I was riding a mule somewhere Blowing a jug With a string full of crappie And the cotton making everyday