The bell buried the day.
For whom it tolled played: "jingle-jangle",
While the hangman all but prayed
God made a single neck to strangle.
We mingled at the gallows
Till the marshal called a name.
One we couldn’t hear above
The sound of the rain.

Upon the figure walking up
The steps we fixed our gaze.
He stopped at the trapdoor
Like a mouse that’s ran the maze.
Yonder came a whistle  
At the station from the train.
One we couldn’t hear above
The sound of the rain.

“Yesterday you smoked away
Another’s final breath.
Today you pay the fine in full
For that life with your death.”
He bothered not to silence out
The plea he cried in vain.
One we couldn’t hear above
The sound of the rain.

“Where there are many winners,
There are just as many losers.
You faced the judge and jury,
Now you face your executioner.”
The marshal then keyed off his cuffs
And they fell with a clang.
One we couldn’t hear above
The sound of the rain.  

“So unto heaven from your feet,      
You’d better raise your head.
Now’s the time to choose what words
Will be the last you said.”
But he left no final word
Other than the song he sang.
One we couldn’t hear above
The sound of the rain.

“Let judgement run like
Righteous waters mighty as the stream!”
The crowd began to stomp their feet.
At fate the dead man screamed.
The marshal gave the hangman
A command and he was hanged.
One we couldn’t hear above
The sound of the rain.