the devil works quick.

It was just a little while past the Sunset StripThey found the girl’s body in an open pitHer mouth was sewn shut, but her eyes were still wideGazing through the fog to the other side
They booked me on a whim and threw me deep in jailWith no bail, sitting silent on a rusty pailJust gazing at the marks on the opposite wallRemembering the music of my lover’s call
So you make no mistakeI know just what it takesTo pull a man’s soul back from heaven’s gatesI’ve been wandering in the dark about as long as sinBut they say it’s never too late to start again
Oh when, oh whenWill the spirit come a-callin' for my soul to sendOh when, oh whenWill the keys to the kingdom be mine again?
It was dark as the grave, it was just about threeWhen the warden with his key came to set me freeThey gave me five dollars and a secondhand suitA pistol and a hat and a worn out flute
So I took a bus down to the Rio GrandeAnd I shot a man down on the edge of townThen I stole me a horse and I rode it aroundTil the sheriff pulled me in and sat me downHe said, you make no mistake
I know just what it takesTo pull a man’s soul back from heaven’s gatesI’ve been wandering in the dark about as long as sinBut they say it’s never too late to start again
Oh when, oh whenWill the spirit come a-callin' for my soul to sendOh when, Oh whenWill the keys to the kingdom be mine again?
Well the sheriff let me go with a knife and a songSo I took the first train up to OregonAnd I killed the first man that I came upon'Cause the devil works quick, you know it don’t take long
Then I went to the river for to take a swimYou know that black river water is as black as sinAnd I washed myself clean as a newborn babeAnd then I picked up a rock for to sharpen my blade
Oh when, oh whenWill the spirit come a calling for my soul to sendOh when, oh whenWill the keys to the kingdom be mine again?Oh when, oh whenWill that black river water wash me clean againOh when, oh whenWill the keys to the kingdom be mine again?