Powderfinger

Look out, Mama, there's a white boat coming down 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 making 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 all the thinking And I just turned twenty two, I was wondering what to do And the closer they get the more those feelings grew Daddy's rifle in my arms felt reassuring He told me, "Red means run, son, numbers add up to nothing" But when that first shot hit the dock, I saw it coming Raised the rifle to my eye, never stopped to wonder why Then I saw black and my face flashed in the sky Shelter me from the powder and the finger Cover me in the thought that pulled the trigger Just think of me as one you never figured To fade away so young, with so much left undone Remember me, to my love, I know I'll miss her