Black River is a creepy poem about a serial killer in the old west who might even be the devil himself. It is based on a song by Blitzen Trapper called “Black River Killer”.
Make no mistake, I know just what it takes
To send a man’s soul to the devil’s gates.
I’ve been wandering the dark about as long as sin.
They say it’s never too late to start over again.
It was just a little while past the Sunset Strip
They found a girl’s body in an open pit
Her mouth sewn shut, but her eyes still wide
Gazing through the fog to the other side.
They booked me on a whim and threw me in jail
I sat there silent on a rusty pail
Just gazing at the marks on the opposite wall,
Remembering the sound of the devil’s call.
It was dark as the grave and just about three
When the warden came in to set me free.
They gave me five dollars and a secondhand suit,
A pistol and a hat and a worn-out flute.
So I took a bus down to the Rio Grande
And I shot a man down on the edge of town.
Then I stole me a horse and I rode it around
Til the sheriff pulled me in and sat me down.
Well the sheriff let me go with a knife and a song
So I took the first train up to Oregon
And I killed the first man that I came upon
The devil works quick, so it didn’t take long.
Then I went to the river to take a swim
That old river water was as black as sin
And I washed myself clean like a newborn babe
Then I picked up a rock and I sharpened my blade.
Oh when, oh when, oh when, oh when,
Will the devil come calling for my soul to sin?
Oh when, oh when, oh when, oh when,
Will that black river water wash me clean again?
Make no mistake, I know just what it takes
To send a man’s soul to the devil’s gates.
I’ve been wandering the dark about as long as sin.
They say it’s never too late to start over again.
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