Wellspring

Danny's father was a drinker, he couldn't quit to save his life
Or that of his son,
Or his daughter,
Or his beautiful wife.
He left one night after he murdered
His best friend with a knife.
He snuck away into the dark
And didn't stop to say goodbye.
He rode twelve days to the border
Where the claiber of a man
Was measured by the caliber
Of the pistol in his hand.
He lasted a week before the others
Saw that he was a man from whom to take,
And on a Saturday night,
He was shot after a card game.
In a drunken bloody stupor,
He climbed on his horse and headed north.
He went crying through the night,
Trying to get back home.
And at dawn he was not dead,
But he was dying of thirst.
And his horse found a well
In the middle of the desert.
He slumped off to take a drink,
Slipped and cracked his head on the edge,
And Danny's father fell and sank into the darkness.
And at that very hour,
Danny woke to the screams
Of his sister
And his mother
And a band of Apaches.
Danny's mother grabbed a shotgun
And opened the front door,
And found a hatchet in her chest
Before she could do anything more.
And his sister was pulled
From the house and then went silent
Danny knew there was nothing left to do
But make a run for it.
He rode hard without stopping
Three days and nights away from hell.
He passed out on his horse
And it led him to a well
He woke baking in the sun
And could not believe his eyes.
He drew up bucket after bucket
And drank water through the night.
He drew up bucket after bucket
And drank water through the night.
His belly full, sun now hot,
He began to fel the rot
Work its way through his veins
And into the depths of his brain.
And his horse began to stammer
And kick with the craze.
Danny knew then
That the water in the well
Was unsafe.
Danny knew then
That the water in the well
Was unsafe.
As he lay dying with his horse,
He somehow came to understand
It was the death of his father
Where his own death began.
And no man can escape
The sins his father makes
He is bound in blood
To what he does
And all that he takes.
And no man can escape
The sins his father makes
He is bound in blood
To what he does
And all that he takes.
He is bound in blood
To what he does
And all that he takes.