From the recording Highs and Lows

In cart Not available Out of stock

Words and Music: Mark David Manders

Lyrics

HELL’S HALF ACRE
Words and Music: Mark David Manders

I come from Birmingham, by way of Lousianne,
Into this no man’s land where life and death are intertwined
You see me and my brother, Les, heard about this land out West
So we put our horses to the test to see what we could find
We’d been out about six weeks, set up camp along side this creek,
I was young and he was green, but I tried to look after him
Two brothers bedded down that night, only one would see the morning light
Waylaid by a lawless man and left alone to die
Now it all seems like a dream, I awoke to the sound of my brother’s screams
Then I felt that awful pain as a bullet crashed into my side
I’m not sure how far I ran, I never saw my brother again,
But the image of that man is burned into my mind
Now it’s Fort Worth, June 21st, Hell’s Half Acre with its streets of dirt
Lies before me like a dirty shirt and I wait patiently
A horse in the stable begins to whine, as a rider approaches the church bells
chime
Now it’s just a matter of time and I’ve got plenty
Now he never saw what spooked his mare but when he hit the ground I was
standing there
He drew his pistol but I didn’t care, I just laughed
He looked in my eyes and knew I was the one, only this time I didn’t run
I walked away, my job was done….but he knows I’ll be back
Now guilt is the devil in layman’s clothes and when a man’s mind wanders
unopposed
It conjures up many a ghost that’ll haunt his dreams
And after weeks without sleep in a cheap hotel he finds the only way out of this
Hell
Is to pull his pistol on himself, now we’ll both rest in peace