THE WATER IN THIS PLACE TASTES LIKE BLOOD
THE SICKLY LIQUID STICKS TO OUR TONGUES
WE GIVE IT TO OUR CHILDREN AND DRINK IT OURSELVES
BECAUSE IT’S ALL WE HAVE

SOME FOLKS DID WARN US THIS IS NO PLACE TO BUILD A HOME
BUT WE HAD NOWHERE ELSE TO GO
SO WE SETTLED IN THIS VALLEY BENEATH THESE BLACK MOUNTAINS
TO BUILD A HOME
AND AS WE BUILT OUR HOME THESE CLOUDS ROLLED IN
THEY HAVE BEEN HERE EVER SINCE

NOW THEY AIN’T BAD CHILDREN THAT’S WHAT I BELIEVE
BUT THEN THOSE BOYS DID NOT COME HOME
THE TOWN HAS BEEN SEARCHING AND RUMOURS ABOUND
THEY WERE LAST SEEN WITH MY GIRLS
I ASK MY DAUGHTERS WHAT THEY KNOW
BUT THEY JUST STARED AT THE GROUND

I DON’T WANT TO BELIEVE IT BUT THEN I FOUND THOSE BURIED CLOTHES
BLOOD STAINED RED BUT THE NAMES STILL WRITTEN IN BOLD
TOM AND JOHN BOYD THE LABELS SAID
THOSE BOYS THAT WENT MISSING THAT DAY
BURIED BENEATH MY HOUSE
RIGHT WHERE MY DAUGHTERS WOULD PLAY

WELL JUST THE NEXT DAY THEIR BODIES WHERE FOUND
IN THE WOODS BEHIND MY HOUSE
THEY HAD SUFFERED A VIOLENT DEATH
THAT’S WHAT THEY SAY
THE TOWN CRIED FOR ANSWERS FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME
THEY CAME FOR MY GIRLS

WHAT COULD I DO? THEY ARE MY BLOOD

SO HERE I SIT, A MAN CONDEMNED TO PAY FOR THOSE BOYS. THE TOWN BELIEVES THEY GOT THEIR MAN, AND MY GIRLS ARE SAFE. MY FAMILY HAVE LONG SINCE GONE, MY LETTERS GO UNREAD, BUT MY GIRLS ARE SAFE. AND SO IT ENDS WITH MY LIFE, CALL IT A WILLING SACRIFICE.

AND ON THE LAST DAY THEY TAKE ME TO THE DEAD MAN’S CELL. AND AS THEY PREPARE ME A JAILER COMES RUSHING IN, HE SAID, ‘TOM AND JOHN BOYD ARE NOT ALONE, TWO MORE BOYS HAVE NOT COME HOME…’