Story Behind The Song

This was the first murder ballad I wrote for The Pine Box Boys. I originally intended for it to be played with a straight-ahead bluegrass feel, but the song yearned for a latin-groove and a nylon-string solo.

Song Description

With a loosely-veiled reference to zombies rising from the grave (hint: last verse), the not-altogether-sane speaker believes his lover must settle the account for trying to stray. The balance must be paid in blood. At the end of the song, the speaker waits at his lover's secret grave for her to return (the "return of the letter" thing for the Lacanian's out there).

Lyrics

I didn't know; I didn't know that she was nervous.
I didn't know - I didn't know that she would run.
I didn't know - I didn't know that she'd desert us.
I didn't know that I'd have to kill someone.

But our love is like the new moon, hidden from our sight,
But I have faith that she'll come back to me some night.

To see her cry - to see the look upon my baby,
To hold her hand and tell her not to be afraid,
To set her down and brush the hair across her shoulders...
It broke my heart, and in the void the pieces prayed.

But our Lord is like the new moon, hidden from our sight,
But I have faith that she'll make peace with Him tonight.

And on the walls, I tallied up the balance,
And said she owed a debt to me for trying to stray.
And I begged her to stay one more hour,
And when the dawn came she could be upon her way.

But when the dawn - but when the dawn came through my window,
Accusing me, the one who left the deeper sin...
I buried her in a place where God won't find her,
And there I mourned until the sun came up again.

But in the grave she's like the new moon, hidden from our sight,
But I have faith that she'll come back to me tonight.