My black mother
Had two lovers
In her smoke-filled grave
Was discovered

Two burnt matches
Her black ashes
And a pine box lid
Full of scratches

People gathered
Talk had scattered
And their fingers all
Were a-pointin'

Was it this man
Her true husband
Or the man for which
She forsake him

In the shadows
I crept lightly
Such an untamed force
Was behind me

Lightest angel
Darkest demon
Can the Lord say which way
She's a-leanin'

Death ungrounded
Hate unbounded
On the hearts of man
It is mounted

For each hard time
For each hard crime
There's a diamond blade
There's a mainline