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At a crossroads at the crossroads
At a crossroads at the crossroads
At a crossroads at the crossroads
At a crossroads at the crossroads

Robert Johnson met the devil
Sold his soul so people say
Robert Johnson at the crossroads
Just to trade so he could play

I've prayed in bars, been drunk in church
Now I'm here to end my search
I'm standing at the crossroads, Devil come to me
I'm standing at the crossroads, Devil come to me

At a crossroads at the crossroads
At a crossroads at the crossroads
At a crossroads at the crossroads
At a crossroads at the crossroads

My bottle's empty, gun is not
My guitar across my back
I've made my choice, now hear my  voice
I ain't never going back

I've prayed to all god's angels
Said that I'm an empty shell
Today, I'm on my way to heaven
Or, I'm on my way to hell

I see someone in the distance
Has the devil come to me
Is he here to make a purchase
Or refuse and set me free

At a crossroads at the crossroads
At a crossroads at the crossroads
At a crossroads at the crossroads
At a crossroads at the crossroads


I'm at a crossroads at the crossroads
Devil Come to me

I'm at a crossroads at the crossroads
Someone set me free

I'm at a crossroads at the crossroads
Devil Come to Me

I'm at a crossroads at the crossroads
Someone set me free
Someone set me free
Devil come to me
Someone set me free
I'm at a crossroads at the crossroads
I wake up nightly just to ***
I start before I'm there
It might seem strange
But as I age
I really do not care

I wake up to the alarm clock
My back's sore and I ****
My hips are screaming meanies
My chest hurts near my heart

I stumble to the bathroom
Like I did two times last night
My knees are cracking loudly
My head don't feel quite right

My vision is all blurry
My right arm is all numb
Three fingers are all tingly
I've a funny feeling in my ***

My shoulders ache like crazy
I sound like rice crispies with cold milk
I stumble and I bumble
I move as smooth as silk

All of this together
Means I'm alive for one more day
Getting old is ******
What more is there to say?
Voices in my head
Gain life on the page
Showing their all
Upon a new stage

Bits of me are in there
Some in more than most
You just have to find them
the paper is the host

I may be the blues man
I may be the painter too
But, just what parts are me
Well, that is up to you

Each character, each story
Is a part of me
But each part is well hidden
You have to dig to see

I'm in every story
Somewhere in the words
I may be just a shadow
I may be singing birds

Look and you will find me
And learn just who I am
In the river of the story
Or hiding near the dam

Each page contains a segment
Of me there in the rhyme
Look hard, I'm really hidden
Don't worry, it takes time

I'm in every story
Every character is me
Just know that I am with you
Look hard, I'm tough to see
The doctor sat before me
Said "Take your trousers off"
She reached inside my boxers
"now , turn your head and cough"

I thought this little grabfest
With her hand upon my kit
Was a little south of normal
But, I stood and did my bit

She asked me a few questions
And now me....getting rather terse
Said" I went through this already"
"out front talking to the nurse"

"I'm not sure what you're doing"
"And I do not think it's right"
"Get your hand out of my trousers"
"I'm just here to fix the light!"
Pa ran inside,
All out of breath
Ma said "slow down"
"you look you've seen your own death"

He shut all the windows
Closed the shutters, the doors
He went to the cellar
And locked the trap doors

"Out on the hill there",
"You can see by the tree"
"It's a horse from the Devil"
"And it's waiting for me"

Ma said "you're crazy"
"There's nothing outside"
"Least all a horse"
"That the devil would ride"

I went to the window
To check for the steed
Pa said "Don't open that up"
"That's all the room that he'll need"

"He's come from below"
"To take my soul down to hell"
"And his horse is the warning"
"I know...I can tell"

The mustang stood waiting
On the hill, all aflame
Was it devil or horse
Were they one and the same?

Pa was still shaking
He had sure had a fright
There was no way that we
Would get to sleep on this night

Pa then told Mother
Of the deal he had made
With the Devil himself
In the cool of the shade

A prosperous ranch
The envy of all around
With all of his problems
Put six feet underground

Dad said he'd reckoned
That the deal was all done
When the crops out the back
All burned up in the sun

He knew that the Devil
Was calling in for his share
When he saw the horse burning
While no one else gave a care

"I have to get through now"
"To the morning past dawn"
"Then the horse will return"
"And the deal will be gone"

We listened intently
We were sure Pa wasn't sane
But, we knew from his tale
He had nothing to gain

We'd take shifts in the night
Keeping the devil at bay
Only twelve hours to go
Until the next day

It would be an adventure
We would trust in our faith
Of dad's tale of the mustang
The flaming horse wraith

The night was a battle
The devil tried to get in
He worked on our hearts
By making deals sweet with sin

Do we turn in our father
Or do we fight till the morn?
Could it just be a ruse
Burning one field of corn?

To see how it ended
You must come out here and see
The scorch marks in the grass
On the hill by the tree

You can believe what I've written
Or hear what Pa has to say
But, it was the Devil's Mustang
Came that night for to play
I don't remember passing out
The barkeep nudged me twice
I'd been out at least an hour
My drink, it had no ice

He told me I was finished
He said "Boy, you are done"
"You're playing roulette with a pistol"
"With six bullets, not just one"

"There's a taxi on it's way boy"
I took in every word
But in truth, my head was spinning
What he said, I never heard

Way back in the corner
Sat two vultures watching me
The barkeep saw them watching
And he said "Son, the taxi's free"

"There's a cot just off the kitchen"
"If you'd rather stay inside"
"You won't throw up in the taxi"
"It saves me money for the ride"

I nodded I'd accept it
He told me, "good, I hoped you would"
"The way your night is going"
"It just won't end up good"

"You're burning both ends of the candle"
"You're lighting the middle part as well"
"You may think you're off to heaven"
"Drink like this, you'll end in hell"

He said "out back there is another"
"Fought the bottle, fought it hard"
"He was lost, but came back stronger"
"He's doing well, but he is scarred"

"Tomorrow, you'll eat breakfast"
"Go out back, and talk a bit"
"Now, off to bed directly"
"I need to think a bit, and sit"

I thanked him, though I mumbled
The words were clear inside my head
But, the words that I said to him
Made no sense, so....off to bed

The next morning, over coffee
He told me, "I've watched you every night"
"I've woken you before, you know"
"What you're doing isn't right"

I told him of my troubles
He shook his head, and said "so what"
"We all have troubles sometime"
"We make the best with what we've got"

"You can come here if you want to"
"But, if you drink, I'll cut you off"
"This is your only chance son"
He said the last line, through a cough

He said that after breakfast
After I'd done the washing up
I was to head out to the alley
With fresh coffee, in a cup

He said "out back there"
"You'll find a man with a guitar"
"Give him the fresh coffee"
"He won't come here inside the bar"

I went out in the alley
And there exactly as he said
Sat a man, singing to no one
With a old ball cap on his head

I listened as he sang out
A voice as harsh as glass and sand
Playing guitar in the sunshine
Keeping beat, a one man band

He finished, and he saw me
Smiled as he took the cup
He said, "You don't know me"
"But, I knew you'd look me up"

The Bluesman drank the coffee
Told me to sit and stay a spell
For each minute that I listened
Was one less I was in hell.
The sun was shining brightly
My eyes could not adjust
My eyelids were not working
My eyeballs felt like rust

The night before was over
But, still it lingered on
A new day was beginning
And yesterday was gone

I can't tell you just what happened
Where I went, or what I did
That memory was missing
It had all but gone and hid

Was my mind just in denial
Hiding thoughts within my brain
Or was it just that all this drinking
Was slowly driving me insane

I would wake up tasting yesterday
In a place I did not know
Sometimes with another person
Looking for a way to go

The sunshine could be painful
Reminding me a day had passed
I just never could remember
The thoughts would leave so fast

Maybe it was self protection
But, if I bet, I'd say...it's not
I know I went out  drinking
But just how much, or really...what

Tonight, I'll repeat all  my actions
It's just a habit, I can't break
There's no way to fight this devil
There's more than just my soul at stake

The devil drives my ride now
He sitcks around, just for a while
But. I know he's in the darkness
Watching his work with a smile

The sunshine hurts my skin now
My eyes are squinted shut
In my head I hear the rumble
Of empty blackness in my gut

Another day of sorrow
I just can't change the way I live
The devil takes from deep inside me
And what he takes...I freely give

One day, I'll wake up sober
I'll remember all I have done
But, if I don't survive the battle
Can someone please turn off the sun?
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