Text: Gillian Welch. April The 14th Part 1.
When the iceberg hit
How was I to know
That God moves on the water
Like Casey Jones?
So I walked downtown
On my telephone
Took a lazy turn
Through the red eye zone
It was a five-band bill
A two dollar show
Saw the van out in front
From Idaho
And the girl passed out
In the backseat trash
And there was no way they'd make
Even a half a tank of gas
They looked sick and stoned
And strangely dressed
No one showed from the local press
But I watched 'em awhile
Through the bottom land
And I wished I played
In a rock and roll band
Hey, hey
It was the fourteenth day of April
Then they closed it down
With the sails and rags
And they swept up the fags
And the local rags
And threw the plastic cups
In the plastic bags
And the cooks cleaned the kitchen
With the staggers and the jags
Ruination Day
The sky was red
I went back to work
And back to bed
And the iceberg broke
And the Okies fled
And the Great Emancipator
Took a bullet in the back of the head
Hey
How was I to know
That God moves on the water
Like Casey Jones?
So I walked downtown
On my telephone
Took a lazy turn
Through the red eye zone
It was a five-band bill
A two dollar show
Saw the van out in front
From Idaho
And the girl passed out
In the backseat trash
And there was no way they'd make
Even a half a tank of gas
They looked sick and stoned
And strangely dressed
No one showed from the local press
But I watched 'em awhile
Through the bottom land
And I wished I played
In a rock and roll band
Hey, hey
It was the fourteenth day of April
Then they closed it down
With the sails and rags
And they swept up the fags
And the local rags
And threw the plastic cups
In the plastic bags
And the cooks cleaned the kitchen
With the staggers and the jags
Ruination Day
The sky was red
I went back to work
And back to bed
And the iceberg broke
And the Okies fled
And the Great Emancipator
Took a bullet in the back of the head
Hey
Gillian Welch