The air is gettin` hotter, there`s a rumblin` in the skies.
I`ve been wadin` through the high muddy waters,
But the heat riseth in my eyes.
Everyday your memory goes dimmer,
It doesn`t haunt me like it did before.
I`ve been walkin` through the middle of nowhere,
Tryin` 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.
I`ve been walkin` that lonesome valley,
Tryin` to get to heaven before they close the door.
People on the platforms, waitin` for the trains.
I can hear their hearts a-beatin`, like pendulum swingin` on chains.
When you think that you`ve lost everything,
You find out you can always lose a little more.
I`m just going down the road feelin` bad,
Tryin` to get to heaven before they close the door.
...
I`m goin` down the river, down to New Orleans.
They tell me everything is gonna be all right,
But I don`t know what all right even means.
I was ridin` in a buggy with Miss Mary Jane,
Miss Mary Jane got a house in Baltimore.
I`ve been all around the world boys,
I`m tryin` to get to heaven before they close the door.
Gotta sleep down in the parlor, and relive my dreams.
I close my eyes and I wonder, if everything is as hollow as it seems.
Some trains don`t pull no gamblers,
No midnight/midlife? ramblers like they did before.
I`ve been to Sugartown, I shook the sugar down,
Now I`m tryin` to get to heaven before they close the door.