Lyrics

5. Sad Dog Blues

The last thing he saw from his second-story window
Was the green of the fairway sparklin’ in the sun
And the last thing he tasted was the metal of the barrel
Of his twelve-gauge Parker shotgun

chorus
With his black Armani jacket and his alligator shoes
He’d picked himself up by his bootstraps
But he'd never shook them sad dog blues

Well, back in West Virginia, when he was just a pup
He and Billy had a hound dog, Whiskey, they were bringin’ up
And one day they cut across old McGuire’s slag-strewn lot
Well, he exploded off his back porch in a cloud of smoke and shot
And when the boys were safely in the trees
They realized little Whiskey was not

Well, never had they seen such evil manifest
Never had their young hearts been put to such a test
And in the fury of the moment
McGuire’s soul was placed into their hands
He cried, boys, have mercy on one who has fallen from the fold
But they buried him in a mine shaft
Under two tons of black Virginia gold

bridge
And every day since then it’s been botherin' him
And it crawls into his dreams like a sin
Where the old man’s eyes see clearly what lies
In the coal dust underneath his skin

The last thing he heard was the laughter of his children
Playin' in the yard down below
And the last thing he felt was the sadness of knowin’
That he’d planted this seed long ago

chorus
With his black Armani jacket and his alligator shoes
He’d picked himself up by his bootstraps
But he’d never shook them sad dog blues
No, he'd never shook them sad dog blues

Ernest Troost: vocals, guitar, bass
Ed Tree: resonator
Scott Higgins: brushes, hi-hat