Jersey Hill

My mama worked the night trade down there by the docks
Until my daddy up and left us to the junkies and the cops
When she died I swore I’d find him when my shadow grew long
And break him like a ship upon the rocks
So I hit the road running like a train off its track
Bound for Jersey Hill, they call me Westbound Kitty Scratch
I got my knife, I got my secrets hidden safe in my boots
Nothing but my banjo on my back

Scraping cross the country with no money and no plan
Flying signs and hiding in the park
St. Christopher, come find me on the wheels of a train
I’m just trying to make the badlands before dark

“My memory’s a curse and my future’s a crime”
Told me Alabaster Shandy on the Scarborough Line
Dirty kids under a bridge out by Desolation Creek
On the hunt for Bo Texino’s buried wine
They told me there’s a place where you can bury the past
Where the ground is soft for digging and no one ever asks
So I left ‘em by the light of the Katastrophe Star
Sailing like a ship without a mast

-Chorus-

I had my chance with Crooked Henry by the old Riddle Tree
But some alleys are too dark, baby, even for me
I got patches on my back to cover the holes in my heart
And a tattoo of the moonlight on the sea
There’s a ghost out there waiting in the cold and the rain
Maybe I’ll go find him or maybe I’ll go insane
The Gods will hear me laughing from the top of Jersey Hill
When I catch that Westbound Train

-Chorus-