The Hangdogs

come the night




You can see him come the night by the glow of his cigarette
In that same old rusty chair in the backyard, next to the empty flower bed
And he'll tell you bout that car up there on blocks
How he climbed into it stoned one night and drove
Away from Oklahoma and a habit and a wife
And a bed that anymore he didn't share with her alone

By day he pushes wheelchairs down at the Lutheran home
At six he heats a pot pie and he listens to oldies radio
But come the night he'll take that bottle from the shelf
And one more time he'll try to dull the pain
Of ideals lost in orders and the tracers just like lightning
Lighting up the sky over Hue

Come the night
     He says "God forgive me what I was"
Come the night
     He says "God forgive me everything I did"
Come the night
     He says "God forgive me, but God damn me if I ever forget"

All our folks they call him crazy, but he pays no mind
He reads to us from Ecclesiastes and he cries sometimes
See, long ago that little man across the tracks
He sent least thirty souls back to the Light
Some might call him "hero," but he knows otherwise
When he sees them all again every night

CHORUS
Come the night
     He says "God forgive me what I was"
Come the night
     He says "God forgive me everything I did"
Come the night
     He says "God forgive me, but God damn me if I ever forget"