Kneel, Young Man

Jed grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas
His daddy was a small-town sheriff there

Mama ran off long before he could memorize her face
On daddy it became too much to bear

Daddy’d come home from work with his fists balled up full of grievance
He had Bushmills thick on his breath

Didn’t take too long, before Jed did something wrong
And those fists came flying at his head

He'd say, Kneel young man before your god
For I am he, right now, right here
Young man, don’t beg
For I'll grant no clemency
Won’t help to show fear

At 16 Jed took off in a stolen F-150
With his Daddy’s state issued firearm

The only other thing that he took with him for luck
Was his mother’s gold necklace with a rose charm

A boy gets hungry fast, so he took to robbin'
Any man for anything he had

He felt strong and liked the terror in his victims’ eyes
And the grip of the Glock in his hands

He'd say, Kneel young man before your god
For I am he, right now, right here
Young man, don’t beg
For I'll grant no clemency
Won’t help to show fear

Inside a two-floor false front, just east of Travis County
Jed met a girl whose curls fell in her eyes

He never stayed too long, but every now and then
He had the extra coin to stay for the night

Five months passed the way they came, sweltering and slow
The girl with curls oh she started to show

Jed snuck off in the dead of night, never to return
Left his mama’s rose and a note…
"If I were any good I’d stay, but I ain't
And I got Rangers on my tail who would love to say…"

Kneel young man before your god
For I am he, right now, right here
Young man, don’t beg
For I'll grant no clemency
Won’t help to show fear

The girl with the curls, named her newborn baby Rose
The last maternal act that she performed

Rose knew who to blame when her mama killed herself
She was lovesick, grieving, and forlorn

- Break -

Decades pass and now we're in a Juarez cantina
Jed’s hands shake as he lights a cigarette

He’s thinking of his life, each second a regret
When he feels the barrel of a gun on his head

Kneel, old man before your god
For I am she, right now, right here
Old man, don’t beg
For I grant no clemency
Won’t help to show fear

He felt the blood run hot down his face
He welcomed death and he felt no alarm

The last thing that he saw swinging from her neck
Was his mother’s necklace with a rose charm