One Man Band
Music and Vocals: J Gale Kilgore
Lyrics: G.M.Stevenson
Story behind the song
It is about an innocent boy put to death in the state of Texas
Lyrics
Long low wail at the break of day
he heard the 5:15 as it tracked it’s way
heard the sputter of eggs in the frying pan
he’ll take a trip when he’s a man.
He took that journey from then to now
and as he lay on his cot he heard the low
mournful sound of a 5:15---
he’s bound to take a trip again.
Heard the soft low hush of his slippered feet
the measured tread of the guard’s retreat
the whisper of cloth on his young scared eyes
the soft metal click as they buckled his thighs
heard his mother’s low wail as he left again
heard the voltage shot in his sputtering brain......
So the bell had tolled, the deed was done
that ended a life that had barely begun
He was laid to rest in a freezing rain
to the lonesome sound of a distant train.
While in a mansion behind a gate
a rich man laughed and talked and ate
said, “No innocent man’s been condemned to die”
but an evidence room proved the words a lie
the semen and blood, the DNA
wasn’t a match for the youth who lay
in a muddy field across the state
from the rich oil man who had sealed his fate.
Now let us wander back to when
in a southern state this all began
in a white ranch house on a pretty hill
where a little child heard the whistle shrill
of an 8:15 as it tracked it’s way
across the valley at the close of day.
A curly haired boy who had just turned two
said “ Mamma, know what I’m gonna do
I’m gonna take a ride on that choo-choo”
His mother smiled and held him tight
then tucked him in and said goodnight.
Years went by and he was ten
and the mother heard him say again
“Mom, you know what I’m gonna do
gonna take a trip on that big choo-choo”
his mother laughed and tousled his hair,
gave him a hug "now you go in there
and tidy your room and I will bake you
your very favorite chocolate cake."
So it came to pass in a few years more
that he came downstairs, put his bag on the floor
“well Mom I’m off to take that train
but Ma I promise I’ll come back soon."
She held him tight, “I love you son
goodbye my boy and hurry home”
Heard his mother’s low wail as he left again
heard the voltage shot in his sputtering brain
“Goodbye and hurry home my son
I’ll be so happy when you come”
He was laid to rest in a freezing rain
to the lonesome sound of a distant train
Copyright © 2002 by G. M. Stevenson
