The Tell Tale Hound

Squatting on the map like a big black stain
Was a dirty old town where it always rained
Where there ain't no cars and there ain't no trains
It's enough to drive a man insane
But the one little thing that kept me there
Was a pretty young woman with auburn hair
Locked in a loft at the top of some stairs
I dreamt some day I'd take her away from there
She was born with more than original sin
And raised in shame at a Holiday Inn
I stood at her window shouting let me in
She opened up the shutter with a bottle of gin
And said "Boy Boy lower your voice
My dog can't sleep with all this noise
You see this beast sitting at my feet
My daddy left him to keep a watch on me"

So home I ran to hatch a plan
I'd lull that dog to sleep if I can
And take that girl by her lilly white hands
And show her what kind of a man I am
But each day I'd play a new lullaby
I'd sing all evening and I'd sing all night
But nothing would close that damned dog's eyes
He'd laugh as my love intensified

"Boy you've got to do better than that
That dog's treating you like a flesh doormat
Quit playing around like a big pussy cat
I won't wait forever and that's a fact"
So I scaled the wall and I swam the moat
I found the dog and I slit his throat
I threw him in the water to see if he'd float
But he sank right down with a bubble and a croak
So I tapped on her window and she took me in
"It's about time I started living in sin"
I looked at her face and I saw her grin
She said "Boy you don't know the trouble you're in
You freed me from that hideous hound
But you'll find it's harder to put him down"
Then I looked at the floor and saw a puddle by the door
I smelt wet dog and I felt his paw... on my shoulder

So I ran and ran
Running as fast as I can
I've been running as long as my memory spans
Chased all across this desolate land
That dog ain't no best friend to this man
Ever since he turned his back on death
I've known know peace and I've known no rest
At night he sniggers at an unknown jest
My pulse is set to the rhythm of his breath

Many years have passed and ever since
That dog has sat where I once kept my conscience
All I wanted was to get a little bit of respite
So I came to the day where I took my own life
I skipped from a cliff and down I fell
Passed purgatory and went straight to hell
The devil was there with a long leather lead
You can guess who he had waiting for me.