From the recording When I Lay My Hammer Down
Rock, Blues, Americana, Piano, Pedal Steel Guitar, Electric Guitar, mortality, death, religion, ominous, searching, soaring chorus with female vocal harmonies
Sounds like: Nick Cave, Leon Russell
Mix: mono, 90 bpm
Lyrics
Well the air will hang like curtains around the casket, that's for certain, in a parlour
When I lay my hammer
A life of sweat and toil on the mean old mortal coil all behind me
When I lay my hammer down
Will I still be in my body when they wheel me on that trolley to the black hearse
When I lay my hammer down
My skin so cold and sallow and my eyes so closed and narrow, seeing nothing
When I lay my hammer down
Will my soul go up to heaven like I heard from that old reverend in the church yard
When I lay my hammer down
My doings and my dealings, my desires and my feelings on the ledger
When I lay my hammer down
Will there no rest or shelter on that fiery helter skelter twirling downwards
When I lay my hammer down
just to be with thieves and liars on that smoking lake of fire with no mercy
When I lay my hammer down
Is my mother waiting for me like she said when she last saw me at her bedside
When I lay my hammer down
Will she see me in the distance and come running at that instance to console me
When I lay my hammer down
Will I find a resting place or drift in outer space just wishing I could find a way to get back down
One thing you can be certain of, I'll breathe my last and I'll be gone forever
When I lay my hammer down