The Man Comes Around (Early Take)

There's a man goin' 'round, takin' names

And he decides who to free and who to blame

Everybody won't be treated all the same

There will be a golden ladder reachin' down

When the man comes around

The hairs on your arm will stand up

At the terror in each sip and in each sup

Will you partake of that last offered cup?

Or disappear into the potter's ground

When the man comes around?

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers

One hundred million angels singin'

Multitudes are marchin' to the big kettledrum

Voices callin' and voices cryin'

Some are born and some are dyin'

Alpha and Omega's kingdom come

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree

The virgins are all trimmin' their wicks

The whirlwind is in the thorn tree

It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

'Til Armageddon, no shalam, no shalom

Then the father hen will call his chickens home

The wise man will bow down before the throne

And at his feet, they'll cast the golden crowns

When the man comes around

Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still

Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still

Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still

Listen to the words long written down

When the man comes around

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers

One hundred million angels singin'

Multitudes are marchin' to the big kettledrum

Voices callin', voices cryin'

Some are born, and some are dyin'

It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree

The virgins are all trimmin' their wicks

The whirlwind is in the thorn tree

It's very hard to kick against the pricks

In measured thinning weight and hundred pound

When the man comes around