The air is getting hotter
Theres a rumbling in the skies
Ive been wading through the high muddy water
With the heat rising in my eyes
Every day your memory grows dimmer
It doesnt haunt me like it did before
Ive been walking through the middle of nowhere
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door
When I was in missouri
They would not let me be
I had to leave there in a hurry
I only saw what they let me see
You broke a heart that loved you
Now you can seal up the book and not write anymore
Ive been walking that lonesome valley
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door
People on the platforms
Waiting for the trains
I can hear their hearts a-beatin
Like pendulums swinging on chains
When you think that you lost everything
You find out you can always lose a little more
Im just going down the road feeling bad
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door
Im going down the river
Down to new orleans
They tell me everything is gonna be all right
But I dont know what "all right" even means
I was riding in a buggy with miss mary-jane
Miss mary-jane got a house in baltimore
I been all around the world, boys
Now Im trying to get to heaven before they close the door
Gonna sleep down in the parlor
And relive my dreams
Ill close my eyes and I wonder
If everything is as hollow as it seems
Some trains dont pull no gamblers
No midnight ramblers, like they did before
I been to sugar town, I shook the sugar down
Now Im trying to get to heaven before they close the door