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 John, 'cause it don't look like they're here to deliver the mail And it's less than a mile away I hope they didn't come to stay It's got numbers on the side and a gun and it's makin' big waves Daddy's gone, my brother's out hunting in the mountains Big John's been drinking since the river took Emmy-Lou So the powers that be left me here to do the thinking And I just turned twenty-two I was wonderin' what to do The closer they got, the more those feelings grew Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassuring He told me, red means run son, numbers add up to nothing But when the first shot hit the dock, I saw it coming Raised my rifle to my eye Never stopped to wonder why Then I saw black and my face splashed in the sky Shelter me from the powder and the finger Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger Just think of me as one you'd never figure Would fade away so young With so much left undone Remember me to my love, I know I'll miss her
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 John, 'cause it don't look like they're here to deliver the mail And it's less than a mile away I hope they didn't come to stay It's got numbers on the side and a gun and it's makin' big waves Daddy's gone, my brother's out hunting in the mountains Big John's been drinking since the river took Emmy-Lou So the powers that be left me here to do the thinking And I just turned twenty-two I was wonderin' what to do The closer they got, the more those feelings grew Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassuring He told me, red means run son, numbers add up to nothing But when the first shot hit the dock, I saw it coming Raised my rifle to my eye Never stopped to wonder why Then I saw black and my face splashed in the sky Shelter me from the powder and the finger Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger Just think of me as one you'd never figure Would fade away so young With so much left undone Remember me to my love, I know I'll miss her
