Powderfinger

Look out, mama, there's a white boat comin' up the river
 With a big red beacon and a flag- and a man on the rail
 I think you'd better call Big John, 'cause it don't look like they're here to deliver-
 The mail
 And it's less than a mile away
 I hope that they didn't come to stay
 It's got numbers on the side, and a gun- and it's makin' big waves
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 Daddy's gone, my brother's huntin' up in the mountains
 Big John's been drinkin' since the river took Emmy-Lou
 So the powers that be left me here to do the thinkin'
 And I just turned twenty-two
 I was wondering what to do
 The closer they got, the more those feelings grew
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 Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassurin'
 He said, "Red means run, son. Numbers add up to nothin'"
 But when the first shot hit the dock, I saw it comin'
 I held my rifle to my eye
 Never stopped to wonder why
 Then I saw black- and my face splashed in the sky
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 Shelter me from the powder and the finger
 Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger
 Just think of me as the one you've never figured
 That'd fade away so young
 With so much left undone
 Remember me to my love, I know I'll miss her