Ashes in The Hollow

I walked through the pines where the gallows stood

Past the black river's mouth and the widow's hood

Carried my sins like a sack of stone

Every road I took just led me home

Rosary ashes in the hollow, ashes in the rain

Nothing left but fire in a world of pain

If the Lord won't have me, the devil can call

The one man cursed is a curse for all

Coffins in the cane fields, roots in the ground

Whispers of the voodoo still circle round

The devil played fiddle while the dead oak swayed

And I danced till my body began to fade

Ashes in the hollow, ashes in the rain

Nothing left but fire in a world of pain

If the Lord won't have me, the devil can call

The one man cursed is a curse for all

I struck the match on my final breath

Lit the hollow red with the hand of death

Flames took root where my shadow lay

And the ghost sang low as I burned away

Now the mountains weep and the bayou moans

For the hollow man who was never his own

But the blackbird's wings still cut the sky

Singing every man born is a man who'll die

Three ashes in the hollow, ashes in the rain

Nothing left but fire in a world of pain

If the Lord won't save me, then let me fall

The one man cursed is a curse for all

I struck the match on my final breath

Lit the hollow red with the hand of death

Flames took root where my shadow lay